


Her Father's Daughter

by tiptoetwirl (SheSellsSeaShells)



Category: Naruto
Genre: Always-a-girl!Naruto, F/M, female!Naruto, genderbender
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-20
Updated: 2014-10-20
Packaged: 2018-02-21 21:59:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 32,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2483864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SheSellsSeaShells/pseuds/tiptoetwirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes even the love of a parent is not enough to keep the worst from happening but when you're Namikaze Naruto, and your father is the Hokage, nothing can keep you down for long. Naruto was born, and thus the Kyuubi attack occurred, a few years earlier than in canon. Minato did not die in the sealing but the council forces his hand and his worst nightmares come to life. Naruto's father might be alive, and she is very obviously the apple of his eye, but her childhood is the furthest thing from easy or happy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. You Wanna Break Me Down? Go Ahead And Try

_A son is a son till he takes him a wife. A daughter is a daughter all of her life._

-          _Irish Saying_

 

“I refuse!”

 

In that moment Namikaze Minato looked every inch the man who had defeated the Kyuubi. His gaze was glacial, the killer intent humming just beneath the surface of his skin, held in with an iron-willed restraint that made it all that much scarier. The Village Council almost reconsidered. Almost.

 

“Our decision stands Hokage-sama. Even you cannot argue it.”

 

“If she goes, I go.” Minato replied, “If you insist on this injustice then you can also find yourselves a new Hokage.”

 

“Minato,” It was Tsunade who spoke and he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, not relaxing in the slightest. “Think about what you’re saying.”

 

“There’s NOTHING to think about. What you’re asking of me is INSANITY!” Minato roared. Tsunade and Jiraiya stepped closer, speaking to him low volumes so as not to be overheard.

 

“You need to stay here and do something about these idiots.” Jiraiya spoke, “This council needs to be dealt with and only you have the power to do that.”

 

“I will not abandon her!” Minato argued.

 

“You won’t be,” Tsunade replied. “Jiraiya and I will go with her. She’s strong, she’ll be okay.”

 

“She’s six years old!” Desperation glistened in Minato’s eyes, was clear in his tone. “Please! Think of what you’re asking!!”

 

“That is why you need to be here,” Jiraiya replied, hating that he had to be the voice of reason when he was wholly and completely on Minato’s side. “It’s not forever, we’ll bring her back. I promise you Minato. We’ll bring her back.”

 

“You have other duties, both of you do. You can’t be with her all the time.” Minato replied. He kept willing himself to wake up. Surely he was dreaming? This was his worst nightmare come to life.

 

“Minato,” Tsunade spoke, her amber gaze bored into his own well aware than they were asking Minato to hand over his life. “You have to trust us.”

 

“Not on this,” The Yondaime shook his head, bangs swaying with the motion.

 

“Minato,” Tsunade had to pause for a moment to swallow back her rage and frustration and sorrow, “I would love nothing more than to set Orochimaru loose on every single one of these biased, prejudiced, senile old farts but I can’t. None of us can do anything to stop them but _you_ can. You can change this; you can make sure something like this never happens again. You can do that but only if you stay in Konoha, if you keep the power of the Hokage.”

 

Minato’s expression didn’t change, his fury only intensifying. Jiraiya and Tsunade fell silent having said all that they could. Some of the council members shifted impatiently but were quickly quietened by glares from the Sannin. It seemed like forever but, finally, Minato gave his answer before turning and striding from the chamber, fury still written in every line of his body. His eyes, normally, sparkling with laughter, were void of emotion and fear made most people scramble out of the way of their normally affable Hokage.

 

“Fine.”

 

Tsunade and Jiraiya exchanged glances as some of the Council were noticeably smug. He had agreed.

 

 

~O~

 

 

Six year old Namikaze Naruto was scared.

 

A normal six year old might have clung to her father, clutching at his clothes and refusing to let go. As it was, Naruto was a genin and, inexperienced as she was, had enough training to swallow down her fear and not embarrass herself in front of the council representatives.

 

“Naru,” Her father whispered as he knelt down to her level, “You’re going to be okay, angel.”

 

“I know,” she tried to summon up a smile; “Tsunade Baa-chan and Ero-sennin will be there. I’ll be fine Papa.”

 

“Remember, try not to visit any of the hidden villages and stay as far away from Iwa as possible.” Minato said, trying his damndest not to cry.

 

“I know.” Naruto actually did manage a smile at this, albeit a small one. Minato returned the smile, eyes glistening with unshed tears as he stroked her hair away from her face.

 

“I’m going to miss you, angel.” He said.

 

“Don’t be sad, Papa” Naruto said, winding thin arms around his neck in a hug. “I’ll be back before you know it and I’ll be the strongest ninja in Konoha...except for you. But I may even be stronger than you!”

 

“Oh Naru,” Minato sighed, “One day, you’re going to be much stronger than I am.” He sighed and let his hand fall to her shoulder, “Just, be very careful. Don’t linger on the roads and trust your instincts. Listen to Jiraiya and Tsunade and...And just be very, very careful.”

 

“I will, Papa,” Naruto said, her small arms tightening around his neck. Minato wrapped his arms around his daughter and hugged her to him, closing his eyes and trying to forget that this might be the last time he saw her, to restrain himself from turning around and swiping the heads off of every single one of those smug, vile bastards on the council. Taking a deep breath Minato reminded himself that what he had planned for them was much, much more satisfying than just killing them. His grip on his daughter tightened and, for a moment, he wished he could just go to sleep and wake up ten years from now.

 

It was only when Naruto was walking away from Konoha, alone and so very, very small (only Minato knew Jiraiya and Tsunade were shadowing her because this _was_ supposed to be an exile) that he realised the front of his vest was damp.

 

Naruto had cried.

 

 

~O

 

 

Eight year old Naruto was terrified.

 

Tsunade and Jiraiya were chasing down a lead on Orochimaru and Naruto had been left in a nearby village. It was a civilian village far from any of the Hidden Villages and Naruto’s skills had improved from genin to mid-chūnin over the past two years and so nobody had felt uncomfortable leaving her alone for a couple of days.

 

That was then, before she had run into _him_.

 

He was Naruto’s age and her height. He wasn’t wearing a hitai-ate but the way the sand was swirling around him suggested he was exceptionally skilled at using chakra. A large gourd was strapped to his back and his eyes were rimmed by dark circles and glossy with more than a hint of insanity. And to think, an hour ago he was merely scary but as their fight progressed the psychosis had developed and now Naruto feared she was facing a true madman.

 

Her chest heaved as she struggled to draw in oxygen. Her arms and legs were covered with cuts and as the boy ranted on and on about his mother and proving his existence Naruto found that she was sick and tired of being scared. It seemed like she’d spent the past two years in fear and she was sick of it. She was an eight year old, chūnin level kunoichi. She was the jailer of the nine tailed fox, the most powerful of the tailed beasts. She was the daughter of the Yondaime Hokage, the most powerful ninja EVER. She was Namikaze Naruto and she was sick and tired of being scared and nervous and bullied by maniacal boys with freaky talents.

 

Naruto closed her eyes and took a deep breath. From the way this boy was talking she was certain that he was a jinchuuriki. He’d called himself a monster, well, the monster was about to be introduced to the bigger monster. 

 

She opened her eyes and the normally cerulean orbs were tinged with red. It was time someone taught this boy a lesson.

 

 

~O

 

 

The sunset was lost on Minato. He stood on the balcony outside his office, gaze unseeing as his thoughts wandered. His paperwork was done, he had heard back from all returning teams and, in truth, there was nothing keeping him at the office. Still, his home felt too large and too empty these days and not even Ichiraku’s could tempt him. Teuchi’s knowing and sympathetic gaze would only weigh on his shoulders so Minato vaulted easily over the balcony, landing on the street below with barely a sound before he took to the rooftops once again. The training grounds it was. Only physical exertion could help him forget (if temporarily) the gaping hole in his heart that would only truly be filled when his daughter was returned to him safe and sound.

 

 

~O

 

 

Ten year old Namikaze Naruto was frustrated.

 

Her brow furrowed, tongue peeking out between her lips as she glared at the misshapen ball of chakra that was threatening to explode in her hands. Beads of perspiration ran from her hairline, down the side of her face, following the line of her jaw before continuing the path down her neck and into the thin woollen top she was wearing.

 

The blindingly blue ball of chakra swirled violently in her hand. She had been practicing the rasengan for three, almost four weeks now and had mastered the first two steps easily enough. The third and final step, however, was proving more difficult. She gritted her teeth in an effort to control the pulsing energy as she felt it fight for release. Her chest heaved with the exertion even as she felt her control slipping. In vain she tried to wrestle back control, her determination so strong that, had she thrown the ball away from her a moment later, it would’ve been a moment too late.  The incomplete rasengan exploded mid air creating a small gust of wind that blew Naruto’s bangs away from her face but did nothing to dislodge her scowl.

 

“Damnit all to hell!” the girl cursed, stamping her foot in frustration. Why the hell couldn’t she get this!

 

Naruto huffed, crossing her arms and glaring at the spot where the wannabe rasengan had exploded into thin air. She’d never had such difficulty with a jutsu before. Yes, rasengan was her father’s creation and yes, he was the most brilliant ninja to have ever lived but still. She was a quick learner and she had picked up the first two steps in record time. What the hell was up with the third?

 

“Wow, it looks like an entire war took place here,” Jiraiya whistled as he sauntered into the clearing. “Still haven’t mastered it, brat?” he grinned.

 

“Shut up, Ero-sennin” Naruto grouched, crossing her arms across her chest and huffing loudly as she sat down on a nearby rock.

 

“Not so cocky now, huh?” Jiraiya smirked. “I told you it was a powerful jutsu.”

 

“You also told me you’d treat me to ramen,” Naruto snorted. “I’m still waiting Ero-sennin.”

 

“Tell you what,” Jiraiya grinned. “Master the rasengan and I’ll make good on our deal.”

 

“Yeah right, that’s what you said when we started learning water jutsus…three months ago!” Naruto grumbled but she picked herself off of the ground, nonetheless and continued training with little more than a roll of her eyes.

 

 

~O

 

 

She twisted easily in the air; one leg swinging out to deliver what would have been a devastating kick to the crook of his neck. Zabuza vaulted easily out of the way and Naruto landed on both feet, blue eyes narrowing in a glare. Her heart was thumping loudly in her chest. Momochi Zabuza, formerly one of the seven swordsmen of the Mist was way out of her league and Naruto was certain that she was about to get her ass handed to her but there was no way she was just walking away from this fight. The bastard had called Haku a tool, and treated him like a slave. It was unforgivable!

 

With a snarl, Naruto raced forward once more, someone needed to give teach this overgrown freak how to treat his subordinates properly.

 

 

~O

 

 

She was on fire, her entire body burned and her mouth opened in a scream that echoed through the woods, scaring the local birds into flight. Naruto’s back arched, her hair escaping the confines of its band and splaying wildly in the wind generated by the chakra backlash. Her eyes were tinted red, the slitted pupils dilating and her scars thickening as the Kyuubi protested with all its might. Chakra flamed around her, a malicious red cloak, searing hot and clearly visible from miles around. Thankfully Tsunade and Jiraiya were the only people in the forest, specifically chosen for its isolation.

 

They watched with grim faces as Naruto’s body convulsed, her screams growing steadily hoarser before eventually dying out simply because her vocal chords were too abused to produce sound, and still the Kyuubi’s chakra pulsed and rolled around her, her fingers lengthening into claws before retracting, her eyes fading from red to blue and back again, her own chakra a blinding blue cloak held tight against her body as she fought off the Kyuubi’s influence.

 

Naruto’s skin burned, her muscles tearing her tears’ evaporating even as they formed and all Tsunade and Jiraiya could do was watch and pray and thank God that Minato did not have to watch his daughter go through this.

 

 

~O

 

 

“Another one, Kakashi?” Minato sighed. “That’s the fourth year in a row.”

 

“Maa, Sensei,” Kakashi replied, his brain working overtime to think up a decent explanation and failing. “Those brats are not ready to become ninja. They’re undertrained and lazy and have no concept of teamwork.”

 

“And to think,” Minato’s voice was mild, “there was a time you kids were genin level almost before you could walk. Itachi, yourself…” Minato’s voice drifted off and his gaze drifted to the view from his window as he sighed once more in lieu of finishing the thought.

 

Kakashi’s gaze softened and he bit down on his lip. The past eight years had been hard on Minato, he was thinner and more sombre, prone to gazing off into the distance and, in those moments, the entire village knew who was on his mind. Naruto.

 

“Ne, Sensei,” Kakashi eventually said, “She’ll be back soon.”

 

“I know, Kakashi,” Minato sighed, “I know. I just…I can’t shake the feeling that something is not quite right…that Naru is in trouble.”

 

“Tsunade and Jiraiya are with her, ne?” Kakashi only half asked, “And you know, from their reports, just how much Naruto-chan has grown. Between the three of them, there is little to be truly wary of.”

 

“I know that, too,” Minato nodded but the tension in his shoulders did not ease, nor did the frown between his eyes and Kakashi took the cue to silently make his exit.

 

He couldn’t pretend to understand a father’s concern but, for the sake of his Sensei, Kakashi sincerely hope it was just natural paternal worry. He feared the consequences should Naruto fail to return to the village safe and healthy.

 

 

 

 

 


	2. See You Make Your Way Through The Crowd

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This fic is actually quite fluffy and light-hearted overall. Very little angst here folks. All I really wanted to do was set up a universe that I've been itching to write. If there's interest, I might be persuaded into writing a sequel ;)

_After close to a year of travelling, I have seen things in the world and in myself, both good and bad, that I had never noticed before. I was struggling daily with pride and insecurity, homesickness and loneliness._

_-Bethany Johnson_

It went without saying that Konoha was a large city. As the trade and political capital of Fire Country, it also stood to reason that it was a city that saw a lot of traffic and tourism. Most people, however, did not wait for visitors to arrive at midnight, nor did they stand so rigidly at such an ungodly hour. Minato, however, was not most people. And so that was they scene Izumo and Kotetsu arrived to when they reported for guard duty at midnight. The chūnin exchanged uneasy glances. With the breeze rustling his hair and causing his coat to billow gently behind him, broad shoulders taut and back ramrod straight, the Hokage cut a very intimidating picture.

 

“Izumo, Kotetsu,” the Hokage greeted his subordinates. “I believe that you have about a minute to relieve the current guards before you’re officially late for work.”

 

That got the desired results and the two ninja hurried to the offices built into the gate itself, unwilling to be caught slacking in their boss’ presence. Were it any other day, Minato would have smirked and shared a few jokes with the younger men to put them at ease. As it was, his mind was too preoccupied with ‘what ifs’ to put much effort into reassuring others. There was so much that could go wrong.

 

He had received a letter from Naruto not even two days ago, saying she was well and stating her intention to arrive as soon as it was a minute into the day her banishment ended. Minato whole-heartedly agreed with her agenda. Ten years was too long a time spent apart to delay Naruto’s return by even a moment. As if on cue, a figure appeared on the horizon, distinguishable only as a blob of dark clothes and blonde hair. Izumo and Kotetsu stiffened as they spotted the person, glancing at the Hokage but not being able to read his reaction to such an unexpected sight. Or perhaps, given that he was waiting in front of the gates at such an ungodly hour, the Hokage _was_ expecting this visitor. But who on earth…Izumo’s eyes widened with realisation and he elbowed his friend and colleague.

 

“What?” Kotetsu hissed, his frame tense with expectation.

 

“It’s been ten years,” Izumo said and Kotetsu rolled his eyes.

 

“I know it feels like we’ve been working together forever,” Kotetsu said, “But it hasn’t been that long. Now _focus_ …”

 

“Idiot,” Izumo punched the other man on the shoulder. “It’s was ten years ago that Namikaze Naruto was banished.”

 

“Oh,” Kotetsu’s eyes widened in realisation and drifted to where the Hokage was trying to imitate a statue, “his daughter…”

 

He trailed off, gaze drifting towards the rapidly approaching figure. It was only moments before she was close enough for details about her appearance to become visible and Kotetsu’s jaw almost dropped. The girl who approached was easily one of the most gorgeous he’d ever seen and he worked with Anko and Kurenai.

 

 Her hair was long and the same brilliant gold in colour as her father’s, falling to her knees in loose, glossy curls. She was tall, with moderate curves that were enhanced by the navy blue dress she wore, the skirt of which was almost indecently short. The V-neck of the dress dipped tantalisingly low, revealing a hint of mesh undershirt. A belt was slung low across her hips, holding scrolls and other supplies.

 

Strapped to one shapely, toned thigh was a kunai pouch, the presence of which only confirmed that this girl was as dangerous as she was beautiful. She wore flat black boots that stopped just above her ankles and the sleeves of her dress were thick straps that exposed the muscled curve of her shoulders as it disappeared into equally well shaped arms. She wore wrist length gloves with metal protectors and completing her outfit was a short, sleeveless white vest, with no zip that fell to her waist and had a flame pattern stitched across the bottom, an obvious tribute to the cloak her father wore.

 

“Naruto,” the Hokage whispered as he caught sight of his daughter for the first time in ten years.

 

Naruto, who was aware that they were being watched and had been trying to retain some measure of decorum, heard the greeting thanks to her enhanced senses. She froze, eyes widening as they met her fathers and her breath stuck in her throat. In an instant her eyes catalogued the changes a decade had wrought. There were fine lines at the corners of his eyes and he seemed paler, as if he had spent all his time indoors. Other than that, there were few physical signs that her father had aged.

 

“Naruto,” Minato spoke again, louder this time as he took a step forward.

 

As if she had been waiting for that exact signal, Naruto broke from her trance. Shaking her head for a moment before darting forward with a speed the chūnin could never hope to follow. Minato easily caught her as she barrelled into him, arms going around his daughter as his heart swelled. He thought this day would never come. Izumo and Kotetsu quietly retreated into the guard house, feeling as if they’d already intruded too much on what was such a private moment, but neither father nor daughter paid them much heed.

 

“Daddy,” Naruto whispered, burying her face in her father’s neck as tears pricked her eyes.

 

There’d been times when she thought she never see home again and now that she was here…well, relief and joy and a sudden surge of affection for the man hugging her as if his life depended on it swelled within her, blocking her vocal chords.

 

Naruto didn’t know how long they stood there but soon they were making their way home. Home. It was such a powerful word. People say home is where the heart is and Naruto thought that that was only partially true. Bits of her heart were scattered all over the world. She had friends and people precious to her in every corner of the Shinobi Nations but Konoha would always be home and only partially because it was where her father lived.

 

Konoha was where she first learned the ninja arts. It was where she would beat Kakashi at laps around the village despite the fact he was older than her. It was where she would practice taijutsu with Maito Gai until she could barely walk and the jōnin would have to carry her home, desperately hoping the Hokage wouldn’t catch him bringing his daughter back in such a state. It was where Ichiraku Teuchi let her taste-test his new recipes. It was the only place in the world where, in the autumn, the leaves turned that particular shade of gold-tinged russet brown. Konoha was where her happiest and saddest memories lay.

 

It was also where the bedroom she decorated as a six year old lay untouched except to be kept clean. Naruto’s eyes wondered over the yellow walls, one of which sported a massive motif of the Uzumaki spiral in orange – a tribute to her mother. The bed was still dressed in the white silk bed-linen embroidered with tiny yellow daisies she’d loved as a child and matching curtains were pulled wide open at the window, letting the moonlight filter into the room. Everything was the same, from the collection of stuffed animals and oversized cushions that were arranged in one corner of the room; to the scroll on chakra manipulation that lay open on her nightstand (a subject with which she was now intimately acquainted).

 

Unstrapping her kunai pouch and belt, Naruto left them on the animal-themed dresser, resolving to redecorate as soon as she could and made her way back to the kitchen where her father was brewing a pot of tea. Being back in this house caused nostalgia to well up inside her and she held in a sigh.

 

“You look thinner,” Naruto noted as she slipped into a chair. “Have you been skipping meals?”

 

“Of course not, Naru-chan,” Minato replied, his eyes curving into a smile as he set down the tea and retrieved two cups. “When have I ever skipped meals?”

 

“All the time if I remember correctly,” Naruto grinned. “I learned how to cook though. No more disregarding your health okay?”

 

“Okay,” Minato’s gaze softened and he reached over to ruffle her hair, “whatever you say, Naru-chan.” He took a sip of his tea before continuing.

“Where did you learn to cook? Please don’t tell me Tsunade-san taught you?”

 

“No of course not,” Naruto laughed. “Granny can burn water. There’s this little village in Tea Country where we spent some time and a man lives there, Ui Takahashi, who is _the_ best chef in the entire world. He taught me how to cook in exchange for self-defence lessons for his daughter.”

 

“Hm, how old were you then?” Minato asked and the two fell into easy conversation, catching up on the minutiae of each others lives over the past decade.

 

Before they knew it, the sun had risen and it was time for Minato to go to work. Father and daughter walked through the village, arms linked as they watched Konoha awaken. Only the early birds were out and about and almost everyone greeted the Hokage with a wave and a smile. Naruto was met with curious looks. She’d been sheltered as a child, people feared her status as a jinchūriki but feared Minato’s anger should harm come to his daughter even more. News of her banishment had provoked mixed feelings within Konoha. On the one hand it was better if she learned to control her bijuu somewhere far away where she posed no threat. On the other, she was only six years old. Talented as Naruto was, nothing good could come off of sending a six year old out into the world to fend for herself. Now that she was back, older and reeking of confidence, well that could only be a good thing, right?

 

“So what do you have planned for today?” Naruto asked, following her father into the tower. “Are you meeting with the council? Can I sit in?”

 

“Thankfully no council meetings today,” Minato chuckled. “They’ll be spared your exuberance and I’ll be spared a headache.”

 

“A headache, Papa?” Naruto pouted. “I see you for the first time in ten years and you call me a headache? I feel so loved.”

 

Minato’s grin widened and he laughed out loud when Naruto feigned annoyance, huffing and crossing her arms over her chest with exaggerated motions. Unable to help himself, he threw an arm across her shoulders, marvelling once more at how tall she’d gotten. Kushina had been slight, a disadvantage she’d made up for with her speed, agility and the sheer force of her personality. Minato himself was tall, with broad shoulders and long legs. Naruto seemed to take after him physically. Reaching his jaw, she was slender and graceful, moving with an ease that suggested extreme comfort in her own skin. And as a blue eyed blonde with tanned skin, Naruto even had Minato’s colouring. Her personality though, that was all Kushina. Minato could see echoes of his deceased wife in the wide curve of Naruto’s grin, in the mischievous sparkle in her eyes, in the way she found joy and amusement in the smallest of things, in her slightly sarcastic sense of humour and in her razor sharp wit. For a moment, Minato was seized with a fierce sense of loss as he realised just how much of his daughter’s life he had missed out on.

 

“Hokage-sama?” A voice greeted as they entered the mission hall and father and daughter turned in unison to find themselves faced with a chūnin. He was a few years older than Naruto, with a scar across his nose and long hair pulled into a pony tail.

 

“Iruka,” Minato greeted, his smile broad and bright, “good morning!”

 

“Morning, Hokage-sama,” Iruka glanced between Minato and Naruto, his hesitation obvious.

 

“Naru,” Minato placed a hand on his daughter’s back and ushered her forward a little. “This is Umino Iruka; one of our Academy teachers who also helps out around here during the school breaks.”

 

“Pleased to meet you, Umino-san,” Naruto smiled and saw that the confusion didn’t completely leave the chūnin’s expression and so she turned to her father.

“Can I watch you assign missions, Papa?” She asked. “I can get to see all the new shinobi that way.”

 

“Of course, Naru-chan,” Minato slung his arm around Naruto’s shoulders and beamed down at her, missing the surprise that flittered briefly across Iruka’s features. “It’s the best way to let everyone know you’re back.”

 

And so the Namikaze’s made their way into the room and Minato took his seat, Naruto perching easily on the arm rest of his chair. Iruka stood to Minato’s left, a sheath of papers in his hand and the guards at the doors started letting people in. Unsurprisingly, Maito Gai and his team were the first in line.

 

“Good morning, Hokage-sama!” Gai greeted at his usual volume, one that was akin to a sonic boom. “It is truly a beautiful day!”

 

“Yes Gai, it is,” Minato agreed and gestured to his daughter. “You may remember Naruto?”

 

“Hey Gai!” Naru waved and Konoha’s Green Beast froze in place, his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets.

 

“Naruto-san!” To everyones horror, Gai’s eyes filled with tears. “You have returned! Your flames of youth must burn brightly indeed for you to have returned to us after all these years. This is a cause for celebration, Lee! Let us do fifty laps around Konoha!”

 

“Gai-sensei!” Lee emoted. “I do not know why we are celebrating but I shall be most honoured to do fifty laps!”

 

“Oh geez!” Ten-Ten exhaled, blowing her bangs out of her eyes. “Here we go again.”

 

“Gai’s found a mini-Gai?” Naruto turned to her father in horror. “How could you let this happen and, more importantly, why didn’t you warn me?”

 

“Now Naru-chan,” Minato’s eyes curved with the force of his smile. “They’re not that bad.”

 

“Not that bad?” Naruto echoed, her gaze travelling towards the spandex-clad duo and resting on them for a fraction of a moment before she was looking away in horror. “Is that a genjutsu? Kai!”

Naruto’s eyes widened as the soul-scarring scene refused to dissipate.

“Kai!” she tried again, “Kai!”

 

“Don’t bother,” Ten-Ten sighed. “Not even Kurenai-san can get rid of it.”

 

“I’ll take our mission assignment, Hokage-sama,” Neji said, accepting the piece of paper from Iruka as Ten-Ten grabbed Lee and Gai by their collars and proceeded to drag them out of the room.

 

“Okay,” Minato replied. “When Gai calms down tell him to come see me, Neji.”

 

Neji nodded his understanding and followed the rest of his team out, unaware that Naruto’s eyes narrowed as she watched him leave.

“That’s Hiashi-san’s son?” Naruto asked and Minato nodded, his smile dimming a little.

 

“Yes,” Minato said. “Hyūga Neji, a certified prodigy.”

 

Before Naruto could reply another team was approaching and mission assignments took priority. Over the next few hours, Naruto’s presence and relation to Minato had to be explained to almost every genin team and even some of the chūnin. By the time lunchtime approached, Naruto was at her wits end.

 

“Honestly,” she complained. “How hard can it be to tell I’m your daughter? Everyone knows about the exile and I call you ‘papa’ for Gods sake!”

 

“Ten years is a long time, Namikaze-san,” Iruka spoke. “People have gotten used to you being gone and it’s going to take them a while to get accustomed to you being back in Konoha.”

 

“I suppose,” Naruto frowned but it softened when Minato reached out a hand to ruffle her hair. It would take her at least a month to get annoyed at being treated like she was still six years old.

“I haven’t seen Kakashi yet, Papa,” Naruto said after a moment. “Does he have a mission away from the village?”

 

Iruka coughed to hide his snicker and Minato’s smile was knowing, causing Naruto’s brow to furrow in confusion.

“What aren’t you telling me?” She asked.

 

“Oh nothing Naru-chan, nothing,” Minato grinned. “In fact, I think I hear Kakashi now.”

 

Naruto opened her mouth to refute his statement since, even at twelve, Kakashi had been one of the stealthiest people she knew. Ten years would only improve his skills. Before she could do so, however, a voice shrill enough to cause everyone in the vicinity to wince pierced through the room.

 

“Sai you pervert!” Haruno Sakura hit her teammate on the head as they entered the mission hall. “Don’t say things like that in a lady’s presence!”

 

“I don’t see any lady’s around, hag,” Sai retorted and he ducked to avoid another punch from Sakura.

 

“You rude, immature, annoying jerk!” Sakura shrieked gearing up for one of the infamous Sakura/Sai tirades. Naruto had other plans.

 

“Somebody please pass me earmuffs,” she spoke causing all team seven’s attention to swivel towards her except for Kakashi, who had his head buried in a book. Well that just wouldn’t do.

“I never thought I’d see the day you took on a genin team, Hatake,” Naruto smirked and it deepened as Kakashi’s head snapped up, his visible eye widening in surprised recognition as he spotted her. “And I never thought that when you did it would be one composed of loud brats.”

 

“Naruto?” Kakashi’s disbelief coloured his voice as he ignored her last statement. “Is that you?”

 

“In the flesh!” Naru beamed then, before anyone could blink, she had vaulted over the table and thrown her arm around Kakashi, her first and best friend, who immediately returned the hug.

 

“Why didn’t you let me know what time you were arriving at?” Kakashi asked as they broke apart. “I would have met you at the gate.”

 

“I wanted to surprise you,” Naruto smiled. “And also, you would have told everyone and they’d all would have waited up. Welcoming committee’s are embarrassing.”

 

“I don’t think it would’ve been a bad idea,” Minato spoke. “Maybe we could still throw a welcome back party for you Naru?”

 

“Please don’t,” Naruto quickly vetoed that idea. “I’d prefer to catch up with everyone individually.”

 

“But, Naru-chan, I haven’t been able to throw you a party in _years_ ,” Minato tried to wheedle.

 

“I know that, papa, but I hate parties,” Naruto crossed her arms over her chest and tried not to feel guilty about saying no to her father.

 

“Wait, _papa?”_ Sakura spoke, unable to contain herself. Beside her, Sasuke and Sai perked up, their expression sharpening. “Why are you calling the Hokage ‘papa’?”

 

“Geez, Kakashi,” Naruto winced at the volume of Sakura’s voice but only Minato and Kakashi knew she was exaggerating. “You really shouldn’t let the little harpy get away with being so loud.”

 

“Little harpy!” Sakura rose to the bait, missing the way her teammates smirked. “Who the hell are you to call me that?”

 

“Namikaze Naruto, at your service,” Naru replied with obvious sarcasm.

 

“Namikaze?” Sasuke’s eyes narrowed. “Weren’t you exiled?”

 

“I was but now I’m not,” Naruto grinned briefly but didn’t elaborate, enjoying their confusion.

 

“Do you want to come with us today, Naru?” Kakashi asked before turning to Minato. “That would okay, right sensei?”

 

“It’s fine by me,” Minato replied.

 

“Actually,” Naruto’s smile was a little rueful. “I wanted to have lunch with Papa. I’ll find you afterwards, is that okay?”

 

“Sure Naru,” Kakashi grinned under his mask, his visible eye curving with the motion and he drew her into another quick hug. “And welcome back. We missed you.”


	3. You Feel Like Home, Home To Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This fic is actually quite fluffy and light-hearted overall. Very little angst here folks. All I really wanted to do was set up a universe that I've been itching to write. If there's interest, I might be persuaded into writing a sequel ;)

****

_It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them_

_-Ralph Waldo Emerson_

The wind picked up her hair, blowing it behind her in a river of gold. Naruto smiled, tilting her face up towards the sky and leaning back to lie against the tiles of the roof. It was a glorious morning, made all the more so because she was spending today with Kakashi. Naruto had been home for a full week and it still felt like she had returned only yesterday.

 

A lot had happened in that week. Her father had officially announced her return to Konoha and also made it public news that she was no longer the jailer of the nine-tailed fox. Naruto, with a bit of help from Jiraiya, had managed to modify the seal and allow for faster assimilation of the Kyuubi's chakra. Breaking the news to Konoha as a whole was a decision Naruto was fully behind and turned out to be the correct one. Nobody could accuse her of being unstable now.

 

Drawing in a deep breath, Naruto inhaled the smells of home in the morning. There was the jasmine that was the pride of the goundskeeper’s garden and there was also an undercurrent of pine. The coniferous trees were particularly abundant in Konoha and nowhere else on the hidden continent carried quite the same smell. There was also a rather delicious, albeit man-made smell that instantly caused Naruto’s stomach to growl and her grin widened. Porridge! Slipping back in through her bedroom window, Naruto practically skipped downstairs. Porridge was her absolute favourite breakfast food but could only really be found in the Hidden Villages and Naruto had spent ten years avoiding those at every turn. Also nobody cooked porridge quite like her father.

 

“Morning Naru,” Minato grinned as his daughter bounced into the room.

 

“Morning Papa!” Naruto beamed dropping a kiss on his cheek before crossing to the stove to fill a bowl with nutritious, creamy goodness.

 

“You’re in a good mood,” Minato noted, grinning as Naruto sprinkled blueberries and strawberries into her breakfast until there was almost more fruit than porridge.

 

“I’m spending the day with Kakashi,” Naruto returned the smile as she hopped onto the counter instead of sitting on a chair. “I can’t wait! The lazy ass barely wrote me at all when I was away. We have so much to catch up on!”

 

“I’m sure,” Minato replied, “Just don’t forget we’re going to Asuma’s house for dinner. It wouldn’t do be late.”

 

“Please, when am I ever late?” Naruto scoffed, swinging her legs as she ate. “I can’t wait for that either! I missed Asuma-san, he’s another one that was too lazy to write.”

 

“As long as you don’t say that to his face,” Minato grimaced.

 

“Why not?” Naruto raised her eyebrows in question as she hopped off the counter and rinsed out her bowl. “It’s true.”

 

“You haven’t changed at all, Naru-chan,” Minato tried to sound stern but it mostly came out affectionate. “You’re still a tactless brat.”

 

“Hey, a bit of honesty never hurt anyone,” Naruto winked. “But I gotta go now. Kakashi told his team he’s meeting them in twenty minutes and I intend to hold him to that.” 

 

“I’ll bet he’ll love that!” Minato laughed, ruffling Naruto’s hair as she passed him on her way out and taking the opportunity to also drop a kiss onto the top of her head. “Have fun!”

 

Naruto waved and grinned at him over her shoulder and then the door was slamming shut behind her and Minato was left staring at a piece of wood with a soft smile on his face. His daughter might have grown in height but she was still his little girl, and the moments where she was little more than a mischievous blur of energy proved it. Shaking off his nostalgia, Minato slung his cloak over his shoulders and strode out of the house. Hopefully the day would pass without Naru and Kakashi doing irreparable damage. Those two could be a force to be reckoned with.

 

Waving to Gai as he sped past her on his, well she shuddered to think how many laps around the village he had already done, Naruto hummed softly under her breath. It was a beautiful day and she was going to spend it with her oldest friend. It didn’t hurt that Kakashi was hot as hell. Ten years ago he had been a lanky twelve year old that towered over her in a highly annoying way. Now he was a tall, broad shouldered twenty two year old that towered over her in the _best possible_ way. Also, those jōnin uniforms he wore were the best invention ever because they were a little…fitted. When you had legs like Kakashi’s fitted was very, very good. Jiraiya’s books were detailed and graphic and Naruto couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to try out some of the stuff he wrote about with someone as attractive as the Copy-Nin.

 

Shaking the lecherous thoughts from her head because it was just wrong to think of her friend in that way, Naruto grinned broad and bright when she spotted Kakashi standing at the memorial stone. He would undoubtedly have picked up on her chakra signature by now so she wasted no time on stealth. Instead Naruto ran, with enough speed to generate a soft breeze, and jumped onto his back. Her arms went around his neck and her legs wrapped around his waist and still Kakashi barely even blinked.

 

“Naru,” Kakashi turned his head so that he could glance at her, “you’re heavy.”

 

“Then you’re out of shape,” Naruto pouted, put off by the unexpected greeting. “And you’re also gonna be late. It’s not nice to keep your students waiting you know.”

 

“Hm,” Kakashi glanced at her again, his lips curving into a smile beneath his masks. “If I remember correctly you called one of those same students a ‘harpy’. Do you really think you should be telling me how to treat them?”

 

“I was only playing with her,” Naruto scoffed. “Besides, I can’t believe you let your genin go around being so…loud. Haven’t you taught them stealth?”

 

“I don’t need to,” Kakashi replied. “Sakura can be quiet when she needs to be.”

 

“She’s a genin, how often does she need to be quiet?” Naruto asked resting her chin on Kakashi’s shoulder and lifting her arms out in front of her. Her nail polish was chipped.

 

Kakashi turned his head to look at her, amusement clear in his visible eye but Naruto just shrugged, not in the least bit bothered by her current position. Neither was Kakashi if he were completely honest with himself. The training grounds weren’t far from the memorial stone and Naruto really wasn’t all that heavy. Not for him anyway. Besides, it felt nice to carry her. His hands rested on her legs, feeing the deceptive strength there even through the material of his gloves and her breasts were squashed against his back. Her hair was unbound, some of it falling forward and tickling the side of his face and, from this close proximity, Kakashi could make out the clean, sharp scent of the soap she used. No, he wasn’t slightest bit bothered by her current position.

 

“Kakashi?” A female voice spoke, breaking through his thoughts and, as one, Naruto and Kakashi turned their heads to look at the speaker.

 

“Kurenai,” Kakashi greeted, ignoring the three gaping genin that were accompanying her. He made no move to introduce Naruto or acknowledge their blatant shock as seeing him carrying a fellow ninja when she obviously uninjured.

 

“Rude,” Naruto scolded, poking his sharply in the ribs and, in retaliation he let go of her legs, hoping to drop her. Instead, Naruto slid easily off his back and stepped around him to smile at the newcomers.

 

“Good morning Kurenai-san,” she greeted. “Please forgive my friend’s rudeness; I’ve heard he’s not used to actually being awake in the mornings. I’m Namikaze Naruto and you must be the new jōnin I’ve heard so much about.”

 

“Yuuhi Kurenai, and welcome back Namikaze-san” the older woman smiled, instantly charmed by Naruto’s politeness while Kakashi barely refrained from rolling his eyes. Sure Naruto was all sugar and spice but then you actually got to _know_ her!

“This is my team,” Kurenai continued, “Aburame Shino, Hyūga Hinata and Inuzuka Kiba with his companion, Akamaru.”

 

“Why’d you have the same surname as the Hokage,” Kiba asked as Shino and Hinata mumbled their greetings.

 

“He’s my father,” Naruto replied, trying not to get too annoyed at the question. She’d met most of the village’s ninja yesterday but it was inevitable that some were out of the village or had taken training days. Still, you’d think they’d know such recent history.

 

“No way!” Kiba’s disbelief was evident. “The Hokage has a daughter! How come we’ve never seen you before?”

 

“Kiba!” Kurenai instantly scolded before turning to Naruto with an apologetic smile. “Pardon him, Namikaze-san, Kiba sometimes forgets his manners.”

 

“It’s no problem,” Naruto assured, “And to answer the question, I’ve been out of the village for a long time. We really must be going now,” she linked her arms with Kakashi, “I wanted to make sure Hatake was on time for once. It was nice to meet you, though!”

 

“Goodbye Namikaze-san, see you around Kakashi,” Kurenai waved as Naruto dragged Kakashi away, seemingly unaware of the unimpressed stare the Copy-Nin was bestowing upon her.

 

“You don’t have to pull so hard you know,” Kakashi said as Kurenai and her team became blobs of colour in the background. “I think you’ve dislocated something.”

 

“Oh shut up, you big wuss,” Naruto stuck her tongue out at him. “I only hurt your pride.”

 

“Nope, definitely feeling something dislocated,” Kakashi teased, making a show of prodding at his shoulder.

 

Naruto merely grinned at him; even after ten years she knew that the joke was Kakashi’s way of saying he didn’t mind her teasing him in front of his friends. It was a good thing too because Naruto liked teasing Kakashi. Her friend smiled back at her, his visible eye curving with the motion and Naruto linked their fingers together, swinging their joint hands as they approached the training grounds.

 

“Sensei,” Sakura sounded awe-struck, “you’re on time!”

 

“Maa, a leech started clinging to me and woke me up,” Kakashi explained.

 

“A leech?” Sakura’s brow scrunched in confusion and her gaze flitted from Kakashi’s bored visage to where Naruto was coughing into her hand. Sasuke and Sai looked intrigued for a moment before brushing away the explanation as their sensei being typically vague.

 

“Will you be joining us today, Namikaze-san?” Sai asked, smiling at Naruto.

 

“Me? No,” Naruto bounced on the balls of her feet before glancing at Kakashi from the corner of her eye. “I’m just here to keep your sensei company.”

 

“So I don’t have to spar with you?” Sakura asked, not managing to disguise her hope. Naruto had dropped in on their training before and had sparred with Sakura in an attempt to show the younger girl just how far she had to go before she could consider herself a true ninja. Needless to say the lesson had been learned and Sakura still carried the bruises to prove it.

 

“Actually I was hoping to take a little of Kakashi’s time to do just that,” Naruto said. “It’s been a while since I’ve had a worthy opponent and maybe your team could get a taste for what they’re training towards?” Her last words were directed towards Kakashi who turned to look at her, wariness evident in his body language.

 

He took a moment to think over the offer, certain that Naruto would have ulterior motives and, sure enough, those motives were made obvious when Kakashi noticed the way Sasuke had straightened at the mention of a fight between him and Naruto. The youngest Uchiha was temperamental and expected to progress faster than he had been doing thus far. It wasn’t surprising that Naruto had noticed and it also wasn’t surprising that she was looking out for Sasuke by giving him a goal to work towards other than catching up to Itachi. Naruto, of all people, knew exactly how futile an exercise that would be. Sasuke was talented, extremely so, but he wasn’t a thirteen year old ANBU captain.

 

“Okay,” Kakashi easily agreed, “but if I win then you have to agree to a welcome back party.”

 

“Fine,” Naruto crossed her arms over her chest and raised a challenging eyebrow at her oldest friend, “ _if_ you win.”

 

 

~O

 

 

Minato let his annoyance paint his features, eyebrows furrowing into a scowl as he watched the village Council.

“Let me get this straight,” he said, “First you _forced_ me into exiling a six year old girl for a _decade_ and now that she’s back you want to strip her of shinobi status? The same girl who wiped the floor with _all five_ of the jōnin _you_ handpicked to test her abilities upon her return?”

 

“The issue with the Kyuubi is still unresolved,” Koharu Utatane replied, her hands folded neatly on top of the table. “The girl _has_ to be monitored, for the village’s safety.”

 

“ _My daughter_ ” Minato sneered, “is one of the most gifted ninja this village has ever seen and a true asset, in every possible way.”

 

“Hokage-sama, I don’t think…” another member of the Council started to speak but was quickly cut off by the glare Minato levelled his way.

 

“Fortunately for me, what you think is irrelevant,” Minato forced his expression back into one of neutrality, and took a deep breath to regain control of himself. “This council no longer has any input into matters concerning the ninja of Konoha and exists in an advisory capacity only. On this matter, your advice is unwanted and uncalled for.”

 

Murmurs of outrage ran through the assembly but Minato quelled them with a look (something he had become _very_ good at over the past decade) before sweeping from the meeting hall, his coat billowing out behind him. Thankfully for the people who had appointments with their Hokage later that day, Minato’s anger did not last for long. The Council were an annoyance but they no longer had the power to force his hand and that knowledge, more than anything, was what enabled him to calm down.

 

Cocking his head, Minato smiled as a dim flare of chakra, thick and familiar, brushed against his senses and he quickened his steps. Kakashi was in a spar and with a very worthwhile opponent if the chakra he was expending was anything to go by. Minato had a very good idea as to who exactly that opponent was. He arrived at the training grounds in time to see Naruto jump into what would have been a devastating roundhouse kick had Kakashi, with his sharingan blazing, not back-flipped out of the way. The two flew towards each other, their kunai meeting in a loud clang of metal and shower of sparks. Kakashi stabbed his kunai towards Naruto’s face but she ducked under it and aimed for his torso. Body flickering out of the way, Kakashi appeared behind Naruto, his kunai inches away from her neck. Launching into a forward roll, Naruto pushed chakra at her feet and flew into the air, using her momentum to turn and face her friend once more.

 

Her leg was already flying towards Kakashi and this time she made contact and her foot impacted solidly against his stomach. The power behind the kick caused Kakashi to stumble backwards and Naruto was on him an instant later, launching into a flurry of kicks with such smooth transitions that Minato felt more than just paternal pride. After all, not just any ninja could get Kakashi on the defensive like that.

 

“She’s good, isn’t she?” Minato said and the three genin in front of him jumped, turning to face him with startled eyes. None of them had realised he was watching. Neither did they know that there were jōnin and ANBU all around the clearing drawn by the flares of chakra.

 

“Hokage-sama!” Sakura managed to squeak out a greeting. “I…we…we didn’t know you were here.”

 

“Have they been sparring for long?” Minato asked, ignoring the slightly obvious statement and smiling to put the children at ease.

 

“It’s been approximately twenty minutes, Hokage-sama,” Sai said, his head swinging from left to right as he tried to keep track of the two older ninja’s movements.

 

Sasuke and Sakura were in a similar predicament as they followed the sound of metal clashing together of the rush of wind from the speed of Naruto and Kakashi’s movements, unable to spot the ninja themselves. Naturally, Minato had no such problems and he whistled as Kakashi somehow managed to dodge Naruto’s drop kick, the follow up punch and the proceeding spinning kick to his jaw before reaching forward to ruffle Naruto’s hair. She promptly grabbed his wrist and tossed him over her shoulder but Kakashi landed on two feet, sprang into a new attack and the spar started afresh.

 

It was almost half an hour later that Kakashi body flickered behind Naruto and gently pulled on a few strands of hair. She whirled around to face him only to find that he’d covered his sharingan once more and his visible eye was curved into a smile. Relaxing out of her stance she reached up and flicked his nose through the material of his mask before skipping up to Minato and the genin, hair mussed and breathing harder than normal.

 

“Papa!” Naruto’s smile was wide. “You’re done already? I expected the Council to take up most of your day.”

 

“It turned out that what they wanted to discuss wasn’t that important after all,” Minato shrugged then smiled at her. “You’ve gotten fast, Naru.”

 

“Not as fast as you,” Naruto shrugged before linking her hands together behind her back and gazing imploringly up at her father. “Speaking of which, when are we gonna start training together?”

 

“Soon enough, Naru-chan,” Minato grinned. “Soon enough.”

 

“Unless it’s, like, tomorrow or right now even then no, Papa, it’s not soon enough.”

 

“Demanding aren’t you, Naru-chan?” Kakashi teased.

 

“Want me to kick your ass, again, Kaka-kun?” Naruto teased back, her voice sugary and smile false.

 

“That fight was a draw,” Kakashi reminded her.

 

“And yet you’re the only one with bruises,” Naruto scoffed, flipping her hair over her shoulders.

 

“I can still give you some if you’d like,” Kakashi offered, “I just didn’t think you’d want your face messed up.”

 

“I’ll mess up your face Hatake!” Naruto sneered only to find that Kakashi was already immersed in _Icha Icha Paradise_.

 

“Hm? You say something, Naruto?” Kakashi blinked and blood rushed into Naruto’ face with the force of her anger.

 

Sasuke, Sakura and Sai watched on with more than a little confusion as Naruto chased Kakashi around the training grounds, more worked up now that she had ever been over the course of their hour-long spar.

 

“Those two won’t ever change,” Minato chuckled. If there was one thing Maito Gai and Naruto had in common was that they hated to be ignored.

 

“Come on, you three,” Minato said to the genin. “Kakashi will probably be evading Naruto for at least a couple of hours and I’m sure Iruka could use a hand at the Academy.”

 

With one last look at the indistinguishable blob on the horizon that their Sensei had become, the genin trio obediently trudged after Minato. After all, one simply did not say ‘no’ to their Hokage.


	4. An Empty Street, An Empty House, A Hole Inside My Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This fic is actually quite fluffy and light-hearted overall. Very little angst here folks. All I really wanted to do was set up a universe that I've been itching to write. If there's interest, I might be persuaded into writing a sequel ;)

_It is curious – curious that physical courage should be so common in the world, and moral courage so rare_

-          _Mark Twain_

“He WHAT?” Naruto stared at her father, shock and disbelief etched clearly across her features.

 

“He killed his clan, Naruto,” Minato massaged his temples to fend off the oncoming headache. “The whole operation was Itachi’s idea. He knew that the Uchiha’s could not be rehabilitated and news of Akatsuki had jut started to reach us. He said that being a missing-nin would provide the perfect cover for him to infiltrate the organisation.”

 

“This was _Itachi’s_ idea?” Naruto sat back in her seat, stunned. “Seriously?”

 

“Yes,” Minato looked every inch the Hokage he was. “I am deadly serious.”

 

“Well damn,” Naruto blinked. “Does Sasuke know?”

 

“Yes,” Minato nodded. “That’s the reason he’s so…intense. It’s his ambition to help Itachi bring down Madara.”

 

“Uchiha Madara,” It was Naruto’s turn to rub at her temples. “That old man is really causing problems.”

 

“Far too many problems,” Minato agreed. “So much so that I’m starting to worry about Itachi’s safety.”

 

“Why?” Naruto’s eyes narrowed as she looked at her father. “I mean, hasn’t he managed all these years?”

 

“Yes,” Minato nodded, “He’s managed, but he sounds…he sounds far too old for seventeen.”

 

“Sounds?” Naruto’s brow scrunched up in confusion. “How exactly have you two been communicating, Papa?”

 

“Through these bracelets,” Minato said holding up his wrist to show Naruto the onyx band that encircled it. “Itachi has one just like this. I’ve put a seal on both that, when we channel chakra through it, allows us to speak to each other. Itachi makes contact whenever he is free and my bracelet will heat up slightly, telling me that he wishes to speak. If I am able to talk I will also channel chakra into the bracelet, opening the connection. If not, Itachi merely waits a minute before cutting the connection. It’s been highly effective so far.”

 

“I’m sure,” Naruto murmured, eyes a little wide at her father’s ingenuity.

 

“But we’re getting off topic,” Minato continued.  “Lately Itachi’s been sounding…tired and far too old for his age. I’m concerned about him Naruto.”

 

Naruto nodded in agreement. After all, Itachi had been thirteen when he’d killed his entire clan then gone undercover with the most dangerous missing-nin the Hidden Nations had ever seen, and remained undercover, with no backup, for the past four years. It was enough to break even the most hardened of ninja.

 

“Do you want me to meet with him?” Naruto asked. There had to be reason her father was telling her this after all.

 

“I know it’s only been a month, Naru,” regret coloured Minato’s gaze, “but there are few ninja who aren’t deathly afraid of Itachi, fewer still who could stand up to a member of Akatsuki and, of those, only three people other than yourself I would trust with such a secret.”

 

“Tsunade’s needed at the hospital, Jiraiya’s on a recon mission and out of contact and Kakashi is on that C-rank with his team,” Naruto replied, nodding her head in understanding. “I get it.”

 

“I knew you would,” Minato smiled. “I just need you to be prepared at a moment’s notice. Itachi’s lifestyle is…unpredictable.”

 

“That’s an understatement,” Naruto laughed but stood to leave, dropping a kiss on her father’s cheek as she did so. “I’ll be prepared, Papa. Believe it!”

 

Minato merely laughed, taking the opportunity to pull Naruto into a brief hug before shooing her out of his office. The smile on his face lingered even as the door closed behind her. It was difficult, at times, to reconcile the memory of his mischievous six year old with the confident ninja Naruto had become but even without the aid of parental bias Minato was quick to recognise exactly what an asset Naruto was to the village. Still, he had missed so much and pretty soon Naruto would start dating and his time with her would be even more limited. Resolve tightening the corners of his mouth, Minato started on his paperwork with renewed vigour. It was time for him to personally oversee Naruto’s training and, by the time he was done with her, his daughter would be one of the most feared ninja in the Shinobi Nations.

 

 

~O

 

 

He made no sound as he vaulted from one tree to another, finding available branches with ease. Itachi’s hair fluttered unbound behind him and he had long ago discarded the Akatsuki cloak. Its pattern was distinctive and made for some of the worst camouflage he’d ever seen. Perhaps it was to make escaping harder should anyone ever prove to be insane enough to betray the Akatsuki? If that was the reason behind the hideous red clouds then Itachi had to admit that he was less than impressed.

 

Betraying the Akatsuki was exactly what he was in the process of doing and the cloak had been disgustingly easy to get rid of. Catching Kisame off guard had also proven easier than Itachi had expected.  In fact, the hardest part had been summoning the fortitude to stare Kisame in the eyes long enough to activate the genjutsu. The man had a seriously disturbing gaze and, coming from the man that was credited with killing his entire clan before he could fully hit puberty, that was really saying something.

 

Now all Itachi had to do was get to a secure location where he could contact the Hokage and await an extraction team. If Itachi had had his way he would have kept his cover and continued to stay with Akatsuki. Unfortunately, Zetsu was not the spymaster for the most elite missing-nin organisation in the world by the grace of his good looks. Itachi had utilised every trick in the book, every bit of training and skill he could muster to keep his cover and he had not been found out. However, Zetsu _was_ starting to get suspicious and even that was more than Itachi could afford. Besides, Namikaze-san was back in Konoha now and under her father’s watchful eye. Anyone that wanted her would have to go through him first.

 

Staying with the Akatsuki meant almost certain death for Itachi because Zetsu was relentless once the seeds of doubt had been planted in his mind. Making his escape now, with minimal chance of conflict, was Itachi’s safest option. Besides, he had promised Sasuke he would come back alive. It was just then that Deidara and Sasori appeared in front of him and Itachi came to a smooth halt, his face impassive even though he was mentally cursing up a storm. So much for minimal conflict.

 

 

~O

 

 

A light sheen of perspiration covered her body and a pleasant ache, the evidence of a good workout, throbbed through her muscles. Hinata pushed back damp tendrils of hair from her eyes and surveyed the practice-dummy. She had hit a fair amount of tenketsu but was nowhere near the level of proficiency her father deemed acceptable. Hinata’s shoulders sagged as she sighed before she steeled herself and tried again.

 

Unknown to Hinata, someone was crouched on a tree branch above her, watching her train. The wind tossed Naruto’s hair around her face and she rested a hand against the tree trunk for balance, the other one lying across her bent knees. Hiashi-san had been one of Naruto’s early tutors and she had found him to be strict and demanding, conditions that Naruto thrived under. Hinata, however, did not. She had visited him yesterday to formally announce her return and re-establish their acquaintance and that was when Hiashi had mentioned the trouble Hinata was having with the weight of expectations placed on her shoulders.

 

Hiashi had been the most outspoken of her father’s supporters when the council had called for her banishment and Naruto had no doubt that he had remained a friend to her father in the years that she had been gone. There was little she could do to repay such a kindness but helping his daughter was a good start. Pushing off the branch, Naruto vaulted into the air and landed silently in front of the startled Hyūga heiress with no more fanfare than the cloud of dust kicked up by her landing.

 

“Hinata,” Naruto greeted, “good morning!”

 

“Ah, uh, g-good morning Namikaze-san,” Hinata replied, quickly dipping into a bow.

 

“My father is called Namikaze-san,” Naruto made a face before smiling at the younger girl, “please just call me Naruto.”

 

“Very well, Naruto,” Hinata said, blushing with pride as she realised she didn’t stutter.

 

“You’re doing solo training?” Naruto half-asked, acting as if he hadn’t spent the last half-hour watching the girl. “Hm, I used to train with a Hyūga, you know. Before I left the village.”

 

“I-I heard Namikaze-san, I mean Naruto, I heard that Naruto-san was genin by the age of six,” Hinata answered, averting her eyes in embarrassment. Namikaze Naruto was confident and beautiful and so perfect that Hinata was feeling more than a little intimidated.

 

“Yes, I was. But mostly because I had excellent tutors,” She fell silent and regarded Hinata for a moment before continuing. “I don’t claim to be an excellent tutor but I can help you train if you want?”

 

“Y-you want to help m-me?” Hinata’s eyes widened with surprise. “Why?”

 

“Why not?” Naruto shrugged. “You’re a ninja of Konoha and so am I. We should help each other be the best we can be, don’t you think?”

 

Stunned, Hinata could do nothing but gape at Naruto for a few moments.

“I-I wouldn’t want to be an imposition,” she eventually managed to say.

 

“Nonsense!” Naruto laughed, “It’s no imposition at all! Let’s start with the basics, shall we?”

 

And that was how, when Kurenai arrived at the grounds an hour later to oversee Team Eights combined training, she happened upon a sight that was riveting enough to keep even Kiba quiet. Both Kiba and Shino had already arrived and were watching Hinata throw everything she had at Naruto and to say that Hinata had hidden depths was an understatement.

 

She was currently attacking Naruto with the sort of single minded focus that was reserved for the Uchiha Sasuke fan-club when attempting to track down their idol. Her eyes narrowed as she flew towards Naruto, byakugan activated and hand positioned to do devastating damage to Naruto’s chakra circulation. Naruto easily evaded the strike, leading Hinata on a chase that gave some interesting insight into Hinata’s flexibility.  It wasn't long, however before Naruto called a stop to the spar by simply relaxing out of her fighting stance, prompting Hinata to do the same.

 

“Good work, Hinata!” Naruto beamed, slinging an arm around the younger girl's shoulders and steering her towards her team. “I think you've given Kurenai-san a lot to think about.”

 

“Most definitely,” Kurenai agreed and, while Kiba and Shino bombarded Hinata with questions, she tilted her head to the side, gesturing that she wanted to speak to Naruto in private.

“Hinata is not the only one who's given me something to think about,” Kurenai continued. “I didn't realise that the woman who managed to assimilate the nine-tailed fox's chakra into her own network would be so short on sparring partners that she would resort to cornering genin.”

 

“Oh it's nothing like that,” Naruto laughed. “Hiashi-san was one of my tutors before the exile and he mentioned to me the other day that Hinata had trouble believing in herself. He was a big help to my father while I was gone and I figured the least I could do is spend a little time with Hinata. Besides,” Naruto's smile softened as she glanced at the genin, “Hinata is a talented girl. She has the potential to be a truly amazing ninja and if we, as senior ninja, don't help our youth realise their potential then who will?”

 

Kurenai was silent for a moment, assimilating everything had said but she eventually sighed and let go of the tension that was stiffening her back and shoulders.

“You truly are your father's daughter, Namikaze-san,” she said.

 

“Thank you!” Naruto beamed like it was the biggest compliment Kurenai could have given her. Oh wait...

“I have to go now, but is it alright if I kept up these sessions with Hinata? I realise I should have asked you first but-” Naruto continued to speak but was cut off by the genjutsu master.

 

“It's more than alright, Naruto,” Kurenai waved away the apology. “As long as it doesn't cut into team training or exhaust her too much.”

 

“I'll make sure no to,” Naruto smiled and waved goodbye, her blonde hair swaying behind her as she walked away.

 

Kurenai smiled and shook her head. She had heard many things about the former jinchūriki but, given that the girl had been in exile, she had waved most of them off as myth. How could anyone know that she her eyes were red and her teeth resembled fangs if nobody had seen her in years? It wasn't surprising that most of the gossip had turned to be incorrect and or simply outrageous. What was surprising was that Namikaze Naruto was as well-adjusted and, well, _normal_ as she was when she had spent her formative years on the run. It showed exceptional strength of character and, in that way, Kurenai hadn't been joking. Namikaze Naruto really was her father's daughter.

 

 

~O

 

 

Minato sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as the second dog summon in the space of as many days poofed out of sight. Of all the C-rank missions he had assigned, this _had_ to be the one that ended up being a disaster waiting to happen. As it turned out, only one person (other than himself of course) would be able to reach Kakashi in time to be of any help. Thankfully, he knew exactly where she was. To say Naruto was surprised when her father came striding into Ichiraku’s, face stern, was an understatement.

 

“What's wrong?” she asked, dropping her chopsticks and pulling out her wallet. It didn't take a genius to realise that lunch time was over.

 

“Kakashi's run into trouble,” Minato replied. “The client lied about the rank of his mission and he is currently engaged in combat with Momochi Zabuza. Sasuke, Sai and Sakura are with him.”

 

“Ah hell,” Naruto groaned and started checking her belt and weapons pouch to make sure she was properly armed. “Okay, well I repacked my emergency scrolls yesterday so I can leave now?”

 

“Good,” Minato nodded. “Make haste and be careful.”

 

“Yes sir,” Naruto saluted. “But you realise that when we get back you're gonna have to teach me the hiraishin? This would go so much faster with it!”

And with that she shot a cheeky grin over her shoulder before channelling chakra to her feet and disappearing in a blur of blonde hair and a gust of wind so strong it blew a few leaves off of nearby trees.

 

“I most definitely do,” Minato murmured the answer to himself before turning away and making his way back to his office. There was nothing more he could do now except hope Naruto would reach Kakashi in time.

 

Little could he know just how close Naruto had cut it. She sped into the clearing, taking in the way Haku was hiding in the trees, the genin were cowering below him and Zabuza had Kakashi trapped in a water prison;  then Naruto kicked Zabuza in the back of his head and vaulted over him to land between him and Kakashi before anyone had realised she had arrived.

 

“What the...you!” Zabuza snarled as he righted himself and noticed Naruto glaring at him. “Brat! Where the hell did you come from? Aren't you supposed to be dead?”

 

“You know for a demon you're pretty slow at recognising other demons?” Naruto said, her voice level as she lifted a hand to examine her nails. “I know you're old but surely you recognised the host of the nine-tailed fox when you saw her?”

 

“I left you with a kunai in your gut!” Zabuza growled.

 

“What part of jinchūriki don't you understand?” Naruto scoffed. “It'll take more than a piece of metal in my stomach to kill me. Also, Haku, you can come out now and make this overgrown ass see sense.”

 

“I don't care what you are bitch,” Zabuza replied, “But let me assure you that if a kunai didn't kill you then my sword cutting of your head definitely will.”

 

And with that he swung at Naruto, a series of devastating and fluid strikes that, four years ago, would have had her instantly on the defence. Now she simply pulled drew the katana she had released from its sealing scroll on the way here and matched Zabuza stroke for stroke.  Well, not really. He _was_ formerly one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist after all and Naruto was more of a ninjutsu than a kenjutsu type ninja but she knew enough to make it _seem_ like she was matching him stroke for stroke.

 

The three genin relaxed, thankful that aid had arrived and Tazuna watched the new arrival with interest. That short skirt displayed quite a lot of skin after all. Before long Zabuza started to push Naruto back and she swore and flipped back out of the way. Speeding forward once more, she channelled chakra into her sword before swinging it in a short, horizontal arc in front of her. A gust of wind burst from the metal with enough strength to temporarily blind Zabuza and he squinted against the force of nature.

 

Taking advantage of his distraction, Naruto sped forward, aiming a devastating strike at Zabuza's neck. He dodged just in time to avoid getting decapitated, ducking under the swing and landing a hit to her solar plexus. She immediately double over in pain and Zabuza followed up the hit with one that sent her flying backwards, her back colliding painfully against a tree before she collapsed to the ground, breathless and stunned.

 

Zabuza grinned, bloodthirsty and feral and lifted his sword to attack. Before he could, however, a foot collided with his abdomen knocking him backwards and Kakashi appeared in front of Zabuza, body tensed and sharingan blazing. Behind him Naruto picked herself up and sheathed her sword with one hand while forming a rasengan with the other.

 

“Haku,” Naruto said, “you _really_ need to come down now or Zabuza's gonna find out why the chidori and rasengan should never be used together.”

 

Taking the verbal cue, Kakashi clutched at his wrist, steadying his palm as he gathered chakra and moments later the clearing was filled with the sound of a thousand birds. A slim figure appeared in front of Zabuza, a mask pulled back to show doe eyes and delicate facial features.

 

“Hello Naruto-san,” Haku greeted, bowing slightly and seemingly oblivious to the killing intent that was crippling Tazuna and the genin.

 

“Haku,” Naruto stepped forward and stood by Kakashi's side. “You want to tell us what you're doing here? And why are you still hanging around this bastard?” She asked, jerking her thumb towards Zabuza.

 

“We have been hired to dispose of Tazuna-san,” Haku replied. “And as for your second question, you already know the answer to that Naruto-san.”

 

“Hm,” Naruto hummed her agreement. “It still kinda sucks that you're not on our side. I don't want to have to hurt you, you know.”

 

“And I do not want to hurt you, Naruto-san,” Haku's regret was obvious in both his expression and his voice.

 

“Oh don't worry,” Naruto replied, “you won't!”

 

And with that she darted forward, too fast for anyone but Kakashi to follow (and he could only do so with the  sharingan) and hit a bundle of nerves on Haku's neck that had him crumpling to the ground, Zabuza following soon after. Kakashi blinked, taken aback by the sudden change in scenario, before relaxing out of his stance, the chidori fizzling away.

 

“Naruto,” he sighed and let himself sag against a nearby tree. God he was out of shape. “You couldn't have done that sooner?”

 

“Where would the fun be in that?” Naruto smirked but it faded as she looked at the men lying prone at her feet, hesitance flashing through her eyes.

“Haku's a good kid, you know,” her voice was almost too low for Kakashi to catch. “It's a shame he ended up with Zabuza of all people.”

 

“Naru,” Kakashi sighed. “You know what needs to be done.”

 

“Yes,” Naruto sighed and drew her katana once more. “I do.”

 

And with that she swung her sword once, twice and the sound of metal slicing through flesh and bone filled the clearing.  Sakura made a sound, like she was going to be sick and when Kakashi glanced over he saw that Sai and Sasuke were pale and shaking. Naruto looked down at her clothes, the spray of blood decorating her skirt and legs, and shrugged off her vest to wipe off the worst of the stains. When she was done she sealed the vest into a storage scroll and turned to face the genin.

 

“Y-you killed them,” Sakura stared at Naruto, eyes wide and face pale. “But why? I mean...they were defeated, right? They couldn't fight back...why did you have to kill them?”

 

“Listen up,” it was Kakashi who spoke. “Being a ninja means protecting your village and your team-mates, but most of all, it means protecting your client. Those two were after Tazuna and they would stop at nothing to complete their mission. We had no choice but to retaliate.”

 

Sasuke and Sai stilled looked a little pale and queasy but nodded at his words, seeing the truth behind them. Sakura, however, looked like she wanted to protest so Kakashi continued before she could do so.

 

“The life of a ninja is a difficult one and the right choice is not often an easy choice. There's no room on this job for softness, Sakura so I would advise that you use the rest of this trip to evaluate your options and think on whether this is a career you truly want.”

 

Sakura fell quiet at that, her eyes clouding over as Kakashi's words registered and she sighed, nodding her head before turning away.

 

“Okay,” Kakashi spoke again after a moment. “Let's get Tazuna home.”

 

Mobilised into action by his words, the genin and Tazuna resumed their journey, expressions grave and shoulder's sagging a little over the day's event and Kakashi took a step forward to follow them before passing out. Naruto swore, darting forward to catch her friend before he could hit the ground.

 

“Sensei!” Sakura's eyes widened as she turned to see what had happened. “What happened to him?”

 

“He's alright,” Naruto grunted and, with some effort, shifted Kakashi so that he was draped across her back, his arms hanging over her shoulders. “He's just exhausted.”

Heaving herself upright, Naruto exhaled under Kakashi's weight before turning to the rest of the group.

“Come on then,” she said. “The sooner we get there the sooner I can put his heavy ass down.”

 

That elicited smiles, albeit small ones from the genin and the group started forward once more, Naruto resolving to start some weight training as Kakashi grew heavier by the minute.


	5. I'm The One Who Makes You Laugh When You Know You're About To Cry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This fic is actually quite fluffy and light-hearted overall. Very little angst here folks. All I really wanted to do was set up a universe that I've been itching to write. If there's interest, I might be persuaded into writing a sequel ;)

_You can close your eyes to the things you do not want to see, but you cannot close your eyes to the things you do not want to feel._

_-Unknown_

 

The panting gasps of fresh air he took stung as they passed down his throat and into his lungs. Itachi placed a hand against a tree and let himself slump slightly, taking a moment to catch his breath after the battle. Sasori and Deidara on their own were relatively easily handled. Together they were a formidable team that took Itachi longer than he'd like to defeat. All this time spent on alert, watching his back and front, second guessing everything he said and everything that was said to him had slowly worn him down until his senses and reaction times were dulled slightly from sheer exhaustion.

 

Still, even if it had taken longer than it should have, Itachi had overcome both Sasori and Deidara with few injuries other than that to his stamina. Sighing he straightened and, pushing chakra to his feet, disappeared into the trees. It would be safer to go the rest of the way above ground.

 

It took only a few more hours for Itachi to reach his safe house and he immediately activated the extensive array of seals and traps around the premises before escaping inside and channelling chakra into the engraved silver bracelet that circled his wrist. The response was, thankfully, immediate.

 

“Itachi,” the Hokage's disembodied voice filled the room, as calm and level as it always was.

 

“Hokage-sama,” Itachi greeted. “I am at the safe-house.”

 

There was silence for a moment as Minato digested the news.

“You got away okay?” He asked once he had.

 

“Yes, Hokage-sama,” Itachi replied. “Sasori and Deidara intercepted me but I got passed them.”

 

“Are you badly injured?” the note of concern in Minato's voice was genuine and Itachi found himself responding, shoulders relaxing as he rested his weight against a wall.

 

“No,” Itachi said. “My chakra levels are low but I shall recover overnight.”

 

“Good,” Minato said. “Stay where you are. I’ll get word to Naruto and she’ll be there to escort you as soon as possible.”

 

“Understood,” Itachi replied, nodding even though Minato was unable to see the motion.

 

“Take care of yourself, Itachi,” Minato added.

 

“Yes, Hokage-sama.” Itachi cut off the chakra supply to his bracelet and ventured further into the house, heading straight for the bathroom.

 

A hot shower would go a long way towards helping him unwind. As scalding water massaged his tired muscles, Itachi was helpless to keep his mind from wandering. He had seen Namikaze Naruto only once during her exile, two years ago. News had reached Akatsuki that the nine-tailed fox's jailer was in a civilian town in Tea Country and Itachi had been sent to confirm the sighting and evaluate whether extraction was a possibility. Kisame had yet to join the organisation and so he had been alone. When he had laid eyes on the sunny blonde for the first time in eight years she was skipping through the streets, trailed by two of the Sannin.

 

Even at fourteen, Namikaze Naruto very obviously took after her father. It was obvious in her height, her colouring and the way she had a smile for everyone, including the street urchin that tried to snatch her purse. Itachi turned off the water and wrung out his hair before wiping himself down. Wrapping the towel around his waist, he padded into the bedroom and slipped into sleep clothes.

 

Soon he would be back in Konoha and everyone would know the truth of what happened that night. How the village would react was uncertain and Itachi hated dealing with uncertainties, even ones that would only affect him on a superficial basis. It wasn't like he placed faith in popular opinion. Still, he would be with Sasuke again, able to spend time with his brother for the first time in years. He had missed Sasuke's graduation from the Academy but he will be there for the first time he took the chūnin exams and for every milestone thereafter.

 

News of Namikaze Naruto's assimilation of the fox would soon reach Akatsuki and Madara's plans would be ruined. Besides, if Madara wanted Naruto he would have to go through the Hokage and that was a feat that anyone with any sense would be extremely wary of undertaking. No, Madara was not foolish enough to attempt something so idiotic. Even if the Hokage were not around, rumour had it that Naruto had grown into a ninja worthy to be called daughter of the Hokage. She had spent a decade under the tutelage of two of the most legendary ninja to ever live. Kidnapping her would not be easy.

 

There was also, of course, a little problem called Orochimaru. The Snake Sannin was after the sharingan and with the chūnin exams being held in Konoha this year, it was obvious what his plan of attack would be. It would not work. The Namikaze family was reunited, Kakashi himself was Sasuke's jōnin sensei and Itachi would also be back in Konoha. Orochimaru was a dead man walking.

 

A bloodthirsty smile, one befitting a man capable of killing his entire clan, curved Itachi's lips. He had been wanting to end the slimy snake ever since he first mentioned Sasuke in his sly, cunning way. Now it seemed like he would not only get the opportunity, but he would probably have the Hokage's backing as well. Orochimaru really, truly was a dead man walking.

 

 

~O

 

 

Namikaze Naruto was never _ever_ taking on a genin team. As she watched Sai moan at Sakura for taking too long in the bathroom, who ignored him in favour of flirting with Sasuke (who ignored her in favour of food), she decided that genin were immature and noisy and absolutely the _last thing on earth_ she ever wanted to deal with. Leaving the brats to their squabbling, she collected the used dishes and brought them to the kitchen where Tsunami greeted her with a smile.

 

“You can leave those there, Naruto,” Tsuname said and the blonde shook her head.

 

“Nonsense,” she said as she ran the tap. “You've been very generous, Tsunami-san. The least we could do is clean up after ourselves.”

 

“You know,” Tsunami's gaze was contemplative as Naruto started to wash team seven's plates, “children will never learn if they aren't made to do their chores for themselves.”

 

“On any other day I would completely agree with you,” Naruto replied. “But they've had a rough time of it lately. I think they've earned the right to be kids for a little while.”

And okay, so she was never gonna take on a genin team. That didn't mean she wouldn't do what she could for three children who had just had a very rude awakening. Naruto might be developing an allergy to pre-teens but that didn't mean she was heartless.

 

“That's very kind of you,” Tsunami smiled. “They're lucky to have you as a mentor, Naruto-chan.”

 

“Oh, I don't know about that,” Naruto blushed under the combination of praise and endearment.

 

“I do,” Tsunami insisted. “And your boyfriend is very lucky to have you to. I hope he knows that.”

 

“Boyfriend?” Naruto's brows scrunched in confusion.

 

“The man you arrived with?” Tsunami prompted. “Hatake-san?”

 

“Oh! Kakashi!” Naruto laughed. “He's not my boyfriend, he's my best friend!”

 

“Hm,” Tsunami hummed, “Were it me, I would find it difficult to be 'just friends' with a body like that,”

 

Startled laughter escaped Naruto, unbidden and her eyes widened at the direction the conversation had taken. She wasn't used to being around other women and didn't quite know how to take Tsunami's comments. That being said, Tsunami was only a handful of years older than Naruto and surely it was okay to talk to her about these things seeing as Tsunami herself had initiated the conversation?

 

“He is very handsome, isn't he?” Naruto mused. “It's been so long...”

 

“What has, Naruto?”

 

“Oh,” Naruto blinked and averted her gaze, picking up a discarded cloth and folding it. “I was away from the village for a long time and Kakashi and I only really kept in contact by letters. In fact, I only saw him again for the first time ten years a few weeks ago.”

 

“Ten years,” Tsunami blinked. “That is a long time.” She was silent for a moment before speaking again.

“I hope I'm not overstepping my bounds by saying this Naruto-chan, but if you wanted to pursue a relationship with Hatake-san then perhaps now would be the time to do so? Before it's become too platonic for too long? It would be...difficult to change things in such a scenario.”

 

“I'll definitely think about it,” Naruto said after a moment. “Thank you for the advice, Tsunami-san.”

 

Tsunami smiled at Naruto and nodded her acknowledgment before turning back to her chores. Exiting the kitchen, Naruto paused long enough to order the genin outside to begin warming up. As they left the house, still bickering, she made her way upstairs and into the room Kakashi was sharing with the boys.

 

He was exactly how she'd left him, on his back with his hands folded over his stomach and his chest rising and falling in a reassuringly steady pattern. Naruto had replaced his forehead protector, angling it over his sharingan and stripped off his jōnin vest, gloves and sandals. Her footsteps were silent as she crossed the room and dropped to the floor, kneeling beside him in a single, effortless movement.

 

Gathering chakra to her hands, she began a simple diagnostic jutsu Tsunade had taught her. While Naruto would never be a medic-nin, her chakra control had improved drastically once the fox was no longer a problem and she had no problem doing any of the easier medical jutsu. Placing her hands on Kakashi's shoulders, she concentrated on what the jutsu was telling her, looking for remnants of fluid or partially healed muscle that meant Kakashi would be bed-ridden for a little longer.

 

Her hands glided from his shoulders, down his arms and up again before moving on to his chest, stomach, hips and legs. While his fever had broken and his muscles had fully repaired, there was a tenderness to them that told Naruto that too much activity would be unwise. Technically Kakashi was field ready but an extra day's rest would do a world of good. Sighing, Naruto cancelled the jutsu and sat back on her haunches, glancing up at Kakashi's face and blinking when she found him awake and looking straight at her.

 

“Morning, Sleeping Beauty,” she grinned. “Have a nice nap?”

 

“Naru,” Kakashi's voice was hoarse from lack of use and he cleared his throat before continuing. “What happened?”

 

“Well,” Naruto pretended to think that over for a moment before dropping the cheerful façade and turning serious blue eyes on Kakashi. “What happened is that _you_ have been slacking off on your training. Your chakra levels are too low and you're out of practice with the sharingan. If the fight with Zabuza had lasted any longer you would have been seriously injured.”

 

“As opposed to just napping?” Kakashi asked, his visible eyebrow lifting in question.

 

“Count yourself lucky that chakra exhaustion is all you're suffering from,” Naruto replied. “You'd look seriously uncool in front of your genin if all it took was an S-Class missing-nin to bring you down.”

 

“Right,” Kakashi forced his voice to remain level. “ _Only_ S-class. Not difficult at all.”

 

Naruto smiled and reached out to brush back a few strands of hair that had fallen into Kakashi's visible eye.

“I'm glad you're alright,” she said.

 

“And I'm glad you showed up,” Kakashi admitted causing Naruto's smile to turn fond. It was rare for him to drop all pretences and just say what he meant instead of talking in riddles.

 

“Anything in particular you want the little brats to learn today?” She asked, knowing that any more sappiness would have him running for the hills.

 

“Tree-walking,” Kakashi replied. “All three of them could do with the control exercise.”

 

“Consider it done,” Naruto said as her hand came to rest on his shoulder. “You should join us, get some air.”

 

“Well, if Tsunade's apprentice herself is recommending air,” Kakashi groaned slightly as he pushed himself upright, “Who am I to argue?”

 

“Idiot,” Naruto swatted him lightly in the arm before helping him to his feet. “My name isn't Shizune.”

 

Kakashi merely smiled in response and stumbled to the bathroom to wash up. Shaking her head at his sense of humour, Naruto made her way outside and, by the time Kakashi joined them, all three genin were making their ways up the trees with varying levels of success.

 

“How are they doing?” He asked as he folded himself down beside her.

 

“Not badly,” Naruto replied. “Sakura's managed to get further up the tree than the boys, mainly because her chakra levels are so low and Sasuke is having more trouble than Sai because his reserves are bigger. He's also improving at a faster pace though. I can see why he was labelled this year’s prodigy.”

 

“And how are they taking the Zabuza saga?” Kakashi shifted closer so that their shoulders brushed.

 

“With the kind of durability that comes with being a kid,” Naruto's smile was a little wistful. “Sakura had nightmares the first night but she's been alright since then and Sai and Sasuke have tried to put up a stoic façade but they were also shaken. It doesn't seem to be weighting them down too badly though.”

 

“That's good,” Kakashi murmured. “What about you? It's your first assassination right?”

 

“Yes,” Naruto nodded but didn't look at Kakashi. “But it wasn't...I mean I've...it wasn't the first time I've had to take a life.”

 

“I know,” Kakashi sighed. “Still, it doesn't get easier.”

 

“No,” Naruto exhaled and let her head rest against Kakashi's shoulder. “It doesn't.”

 

And so the two of them sat like that, taking and receiving comfort in the manner that only the closest of friends could achieve. Meanwhile, they were not unobserved. Sakura glanced over at the two jōnin as she perched high in a tree, catching her breath. It had been obvious from the start that Kakashi-sensei and Naruto-sensei were close and it was equally obvious that there were not many people Kakashi-sensei could call friends.

 

Sakura had seen the looks Kakashi-sensei got from the female population of Konoha. He was like the older generations Sasuke-kun, idolised and lusted after and endlessly praised for his looks and genius. He was also the Hokage's student and the two had retained a very close bond. That definitely didn't hurt his eligibility. As far as Sakura knew however (which was basically whatever Ino had managed to ferret out from the village gossips) Kakashi-sensei liked playing hard to get just as much as Sasuke-kun did. Maybe it was a trait all prodigies shared?

 

The thing is, ever since Naruto-sensei had breezed into their lives (and training sessions), Kaka-sensei had seemed...lighter. He was on time for training and missions, he didn't have his head perpetually buried in that disgusting book and he kept up a steady stream of banter with Naruto-sensei when she was around. For friends that had been separated for ten years, they seemed to share an awful lot of private jokes.

 

Naruto-sensei was bubbly and strict and demanding and so beautiful that Sakura often felt intimidated by her. She was obviously a strong ninja. Duh, she was the Hokage's daughter and also she survived a ten year exile and came out of it with her sanity intact (mostly). That had got to count for something. Sakura was a little afraid of Naruto-sensei but she was also a little in awe of her. Naruto-sensei was everything Sakura wanted to be, capable, confident and charming. When Naruto-sensei was teaching, Sasuke-kun gave her his full attention and Sakura wanted that. She wanted to be strong and beautiful so that Sasuke-kun would look at _her_ , would pay attention to _her._

 

The only way she could do that is by training more and taking her ninja duties more seriously. And so Sakura jumped from the tree, landing in a crouch and brushing the dust from her clothes before attempting to climb even higher. Kakashi-sensei and Naruto-sensei could cuddle up and make goo-goo eyes at each other all they wanted. Sakura had a prodigy to impress.

 


	6. Your Pain And Your Hunger They're Driving You Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This fic is actually quite fluffy and light-hearted overall. Very little angst here folks. All I really wanted to do was set up a universe that I've been itching to write. If there's interest, I might be persuaded into writing a sequel ;)

****

_That's what it takes to be a hero, that little gem of innocence inside you that makes you want to believe that there's still a right and wrong, that decency will somehow triumph in the end._

_-Lise Hand._

 

 

For such a successful business tycoon, Gato was kind of an imbecile. Naruto sighed, and fought the urge to roll her eyes as the short, portly man waddled towards them, accompanied by a few hundred armed thugs. That he seriously thought that mere thugs could succeed where Zabuza himself had failed was laughable.

 

“There's so many of them!” Sakura's eyes widened at the prospect of having to fight off all those men.

 

“That?” Naruto scoffed, “That's nothing, watch and learn kiddies!”

Naruto smirked as her fingers twisted into a familiar pattern and hundreds of shadow clones popped into existence, all mirroring her expression.

 

“Clones?” Sai asked. “How is that supposed to help?”

 

“They're not regular clones,” Kakashi explained. “They're shadow clones, corporeal and durable and very, very difficult to produce.”

 

“Can you do them, sensei?” Sakura asked and Kakashi nodded the affirmative.

“So?” Sakura raised both eyebrows and placed her hands on her hips. “What are you waiting for? It's rude to let your girlfriend do all the work.”

 

Kakashi sighed and, for a moment, considered reminding Sakura that Naruto was not his girlfriend. Then he decided that it was too much effort and obligingly formed the required hand seals. A moment later a few hundred Kakashi's popped into existence whilst the real one slumped against the bridge, content to sit this one out. The band of renegades took one look at the sudden appearance of so many ninja and took a collective step backward and then another before turning tail and running, leaving Gato staring that their retreating backs with consternation.

 

Naruto's smirk turned deadly as she let her clones dissipate before stalking towards the tycoon who seemed to realise he was in trouble and tried to run. Naruto, of course, was faster and body flickered ahead of him. The look on Gato's face as he glanced up to meet Naruto's cold eyes and bloodthirsty smile was priceless.

 

“N-n-ninja-san,” he stammered, raising both hands in a placating gesture, “I-I have money...”

 

Naruto merely rolled her eyes and drew her katana, causing Gato to take a few, hasty steps backwards.

“Does it look like I want your money?” She asked and took a step towards him and then another, causing Gato to scramble back until he was pushed against the railing, glancing nervously over his shoulder at the ocean beneath him.

 

“B-but I can...I have a lot...” Gato continued to babble, not able to believe that anyone would actually be able to turn down monetary rewards.

 

Deciding that enough was enough, Naruto let her impatience show and, as Gato's blood drained from his face, jerked forwards as if she were going to attack. Gato screamed and tried to dodge but, unfortunately, his sense of direction left much to be desired and he tumbled straight off of the bridge and into the choppy waters below.

 

Sakura let out a squeal of surprise but quelled under the annoyed glance sent her way by Sasuke and Sai while Naruto peered over the bridge. Her pupils widened to accommodate the distance and low light but she could make out no bubbles that might show Gato survived the fall. A minute passed by in this way and then another and Kakashi joined her at the bridge, scanning for the messy hair or any sign of life. When none appeared, they glanced at each other and traded smiles before turning back to the genin.

 

“Alright everyone,” Tazuna said, relieved that everything had turned out to be so anticlimactic, “back to work!”

 

And with that, it was business as usual and if the genin noticed that the workers were quicker to smile, their movements lighter than they had been all week, they decided not to comment and merely traded pleased looks before rolling up their metaphorical sleeves and helping with the building.

 

 

~O

 

 

There was a little boy following them around. He never smiled and was quick to leave the room whenever they entered. His name was Inari and he was Tsunami's son. Sakura tried to talk to him but he just yelled at her, told her that there are no such things as heroes and that they were all going to die for being stupid enough to go up against Gato. Sasuke and Sai scowled at him but Sakura shrank back, unable to deal with so much anger in someone who was so young.

 

“I don't know what to do with him,” Tsunami confessed when she was alone with Naruto. “He's too young to be so jaded.”

 

Naruto thought back to ten years ago, to the fear that had constantly clawed at her and the way it had taken a psychotic little boy with insane levels of potential to shake her from such a state.

“Children are resilient,” Naruto eventually says. “Someone just needs to show him how to deal with bullies.”

 

“And how do you deal with bullies, Naruto-chan?” Tsunami asked, she tilted her head as she regarded the younger woman, honestly curious about her answer.

 

“By refusing to be bullied,” Naruto replied, her eyes glinting and before Tsunami could get her to elaborate, Tazuna was hobbling into the kitchen, rudely enquiring into what was taking so long.

 

After that the bridge incident happened and Inari's entire outlook seemed to change. He still didn't approach the group, hiding behind trees and around corners and peering at them through wary eyes. Sometimes his confusion was almost palpable and those were the days that a smile curved Naruto's lips, satisfied and more than a little smug.

 

“Do I want to know?” Kakashi asked on one such occasion.

 

“That depends,” Naruto glanced at him from the corner of her eyes. “How bored are you right now?”

 

“Not enough to willingly be involved in one of your plans,” Kakashi replied and didn't have to look away from his genin team to know that Naruto was pouting.

 

“I saw Inari trying to practice kenjutsu with a garden rake the other day,” Naruto said after a moment's pause.

 

“So,” Kakashi was clearly confused as to why Naruto felt the need to mention this fact. “Lots of kids fancy themselves ninja.”

 

“But maybe he'd like lessons, ne?” Naruto didn't look at Kakashi, choosing instead to stretch her legs out in front of her and prop herself up on her elbows. “The kid's had a rough time of it and we're gonna be stuck here for another week at least. What harm could it do?”

 

Kakashi hummed non-committedly, glancing at Naruto out of the corners of his eyes and reading between the lines to what wasn't being said. Everybody in Konoha had marvelled over how well-adjusted and friendly Naruto was, how she was confident and capable and seemingly unaffected by her ten year exile. Kakashi himself had been glad to have his best friend back, albeit an older and therefore much hotter version of the six year old he remembered. In fact, as soon as he'd gotten over his surprise at Naruto reappearing back in Konoha so unexpectedly, Kakashi had realised that he was going to have to play it very, very cool.

 

Naruto had lost none of her childish exuberance and love of life, was still the same whirlwind of mischief and laughter she'd always been. The difference was that those traits were now tempered by the most amazing legs Kakashi had ever seen and breasts that practically made his mouth water. So Kakashi had spent most of his time around Naruto trying to act as normal as possible because Naruto was his friend, first and foremost and he was just gonna have to force his dick to remember that. As a result he'd forgotten that for all her smiles and jokes, there was no way Naruto was completely unaffected by her time away.

 

Now, with her face in profile and her eyes trained on a spot in the distance so that Kakashi couldn't properly gauge the expression in them, Kakashi was realising that Naruto would find it very easy indeed to empathise with a lonely, scared, heartbroken childlike Inari.

 

“No harm at all, Naru,” Kakashi eventually said. “In fact, I think it's a great idea.”

 

Naruto did look at him then, her expression unguarded and a grateful smile curving her lips. Kakashi's smile was hidden beneath his face mask but it was no less genuine because of that. For all the changes ten years had wrought, Naruto's biggest strength remained unchanged. For all the she had suffered, and for all the cruelty she'd had to face from so young an age, Naruto still believed in the good in people. She still believed that even the most sadistic of people could change if they truly wanted to. She still believed in redemption. In the ways that mattered, Naruto hadn't changed one bit. She still truly was her father's daughter.

 

It was at that precise moment that a messenger bird from Konoha arrived, landing on Naruto's outstretched leg with a loud squawk. Kakashi and Naruto both blinked in surprised but instinct had Naruto reaching for the scroll attached to the bird's leg before she was even aware of doing so. The bird flew away as Naruto unfurled the message and Kakashi leaned over her shoulder to read, his fingers clenching into a fist as he did so.

 

“Well,” Naruto said as she stood and brushed herself off. “I guess you'll have to finish things off here without me, Kakashi.”

 

“Finish what off?” Kakashi said. “All that's left to do is wait. You get all the fun, Naru.”

 

“That's because I'm faster than you, Kaka-kun,” Naruto teased but the smile didn't reach her eyes. She was already focusing on the mission that lay ahead.

 

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Naru-chan,” Kakashi replied as he also stood and scratched the back of his neck as he regarded his friend, feeling like he should say something more but unable to find the words.

 

“Well, I guess I'll see you back in Konoha then,” Naruto smiled. “Don't run into anymore S-class missing nin alright? I won't be there to save your ass.”

Acting on impulse, Naruto rose onto the tips of her toes to press a kiss to Kakashi's cloth covered cheek before gracing him with another, smaller smile.

“Take care, Kakashi!”

 

And with that she had turned and raced away in a whirl of blonde hair and the clean, sharp scent of soap, leaving Kakashi gaping behind her. Never in his life had he been as glad for his mask as he was at that moment because try as he might, Kakashi just couldn't seem to wipe the broad and blatantly delighted grin from his face.

 

Naruto, too, was smiling as she left Wave, channelling chakra to her feet as she ran so that she was nothing but a brief and unexpected gust of wind to the people she passed. Itachi's hideout was somewhere between Wave and Konoha and it took Naruto 18 hours, at top speed, to reach it. When she finally jerked to a stop in front of a small, nondescript cottage, it was to find that Itachi was already embroiled in battle with two members of Akatsuki, Kakuzu and Hidan. So much for the place being secure

 

Naruto didn’t hesitate before leaping into the battle, landing in front of Itachi and releasing a wind jutsu to push Kakuzu and Hidan back a bit.

 

“Don't let them get any of your blood, Naruto-san,” Itachi said in lieu of greeting and, Naruto nodded her understanding. She'd heard of Hidan and his 'religion'.

 

“What's this?” Hidan said, cocking his head to the side and grinning at Naruto, “the nine-tailed girl? Well, this must be our lucky day. Leader's gonna love us for bringing in both Itachi and the fox.”

 

“Don't get ahead of yourself,” Naruto sneered and tossed her hair over her shoulder. “You're gonna have to catch me first, asshole.”

 

“Now, now,” Hidan teased, “ladies shouldn't use such language. Didn't your father teach you better?”

And with that he charged forward, scythe poised and a cruel smirk twisting his lips.

 

Naruto easily evaded and found she had to continue to do so. The scythe was massive but Hidan wielded it with ease and with a dexterity that belied its size and weight. Still, Hidan's formidability lay mainly in his immortality and the jutsu he trapped his opponent's in. Naruto had never faced an immortal opponent before and she was curious about just how far his so-called invincibility went.

 

With that plan of attack in mind, Naruto waited for an opportunity to slip under Hidan's guard. Sure enough, such a moment occurred mere minutes later. Hidan was undoubtedly a strong opponent but he was also somebody who was accustomed to facing people who were unaware of his jutsu. Naruto herself would not have known that he needed her blood had Itachi not warned her (because why else would he say something so ominous?). So before long Hidan grew impatient and aimed a rather reckless attack at Naruto. A smirk twisted her lips and she ducked under the scythe, hair flying behind her as she gathered chakra into her hand and pushed a rasengan into his heart.

 

Hidan's eyes widened in surprise and he glanced down at the gaping wound in his chest as Naruto jumped back, putting some distance between them. Her brow furrowed into a frown when Hidan didn't collapse and instead traced the edges of his wound before ripping a long piece of fabric from his cloak to bandage the area.

 

“Dumb bitch,” Hidan growled as he finished and glared at Naruto. “You're gonna pay for that.”

 

Naruto merely shrugged, feigning nonchalance but her mind was working overtime. So he wasn't affected by otherwise fatal injuries, even ones to heart. Maybe the guy really was immortal after all, or as close as humans could get to being so, anyway. As the fight resumed, anger fuelling Hidan's movements and adrenalin giving him added speed so that Naruto had an even harder time that before ensuring she didn't get cut, Naruto ran through scenario's in her mind and tried to find a way to get around Hidan's resistance to injury.

 

Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Itachi use a lightning jutsu to shatter one of the masks on Kakuzu’s chest. There was one more mask left. Hidan took advantage of her momentary distraction to swipe at her neck with his scythe but Naruto ducked under it and pushed her hands forward, calling a wind jutsu to push Hidan back. It bought her mere moments but it was enough for Naruto to regain her focus once more. Naruto couldn’t say how long the battle raged except that she was still going strong when Itachi suddenly flickered behind Hidan, hands ablaze and Sharingan spinning. Lips curving into a wicked smirk, Naruto attacked at the same time and Hidan barely managed to dodge them both.

 

“We need to bury him,” Itachi told her and Naruto nodded her acknowledgement.

 

“I can dig the hole,” she offered and Itachi glanced at her before increasing the ferocity of his attacks, giving her time to do just that.

 

Earth jutsu were some of Naruto’s favourite after wind and it wasn’t long before she had a dug a deep hole in the ground and laced it with some of her father’s strongest chakra suppressing seals. She also added some for increased gravity to just to be safe. Once trapped, Hidan would barely be able to blink. Naruto rejoined the fight and Itachi left without being prompted to cast a genjutsu over the trap. From there it only took more teamwork to get Hidan in place and Naruto sealed the trap with a flourish and set up seals to prevent people digging up the ground (both manually and with jutsu) while Itachi set up more genjutsu to trap people in imaginary fights with some of Konoha’s best shinobi.

 

There was a moment of awkwardness when they were done. Naruto and Itachi looked at each other, unsure of what to say but that was broken when Itachi swayed slightly on his feet. To most people the momentary lapse would have been barely noticeable but Naruto had become adept at reading body language and smile curved her lips even as she shook her head.

 

“What is with you prodigies and your shitty stamina?” She asked but didn’t give Itachi time to reply. Instead she tossed him some soldier pills and sealed Kakuzu’s body into a scroll as he took them.

 

Then the pair were on the move once more. Naruto, whilst on full alert, kept up a steady stream of chatter that Itachi responded to with the odd grunt or hum of acknowledgement. To most people they looked like a shinobi team returning from a successful mission and, fortunately, they reached Konoha without further incident. Night had fallen hours ago and the forest around the village was eerily silent, broken only by the sounds of nature. Naruto stopped just out of view of the gate and placed a hand on Itachi’s shoulder before body-flickering them up to her house.  Her father was still awake and Naruto grinned as he turned to face them, relief visible on his face.

 

“Welcome back,” Minato smiled and Naruto’s own grin widened as she hugged her father then skipped toward the kitchen, complaining loudly about how thirsty she was.

 

Itachi bowed, low and formal to his Hokage but something inside him loosened when Minato laughed and waved away the need for formalities. Father and daughter together were a force to be reckoned with and Itachi found himself ushered into a chair and a steaming drink and plate of food was placed in front of him while Naruto reported on their mission.

 

It wasn’t quite the feeling of coming home. Itachi suspected that would only happen when he was able to talk to Sasuke once more. Instead it was the feeling of acceptance, of being able to let down his guard, of knowing that there was no need to keep up pretences. Itachi slept well that night, secure in the knowledge that there was no need to keep watch.

 

 


	7. Now My Baby's Dancing, But She's Dancing With Another Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This fic is actually quite fluffy and light-hearted overall. Very little angst here folks. All I really wanted to do was set up a universe that I've been itching to write. If there's interest, I might be persuaded into writing a sequel ;)

****

_Jealousy is the most dreadfully involuntary of all the sins_

_-Iris Murdoch_

 

Kakashi held in a sigh as Team 7 approached the gates of Konoha. Finally, they were home. The mission had been long and far more difficult than anticipated and he was glad to be back in Konoha where a hot shower was calling his name.

 

First though, the team had to debrief. Because Zabuza’s involvement had elevated their mission for C to A rank, the debriefing would be done by the Hokage himself saving Kakashi the hassle of seeking out his sensei. Naruto had left to escort Itachi a week ago and Kakashi was itching for a status on his friend.

 

With every passing year, the risk to Itachi’s wellbeing increased. It was bad enough that he’d been sent on such a deep undercover mission at _thirteen_ but for him to have kept up the cover as well as survived life as a member of Akatsuki for so long…it was enough to break even most well-grounded mind. Also, it was unlikely that Itachi’s desertion had gone completely unnoticed. There was a strong possibility that Naruto and Itachi would have to fight their way home and as formidable as they were, the Akatsuki were not easy opponents. It was at that moment that Kakashi was jolted from his worries by Sasuke’s voice, raised in jubilation and almost unrecognisable for being so.

 

“Aniki!”

 

Naruto couldn’t help but smile at the open surprise on Sasuke’s face

 

“Sasuke,” Itachi greeted, his eyes softening as they landed on his brother. “You look well.”

 

“When did you get back?” Sasuke asked, ignoring the curious looks he was getting from Sakura and Sai.

 

“Four days ago” Itachi’s glanced flickered over the other two genin before landing on Kakashi.

 

“Senpai,” Itachi greeted.

 

“It’s good to see you again, Itachi-kun,” Kakashi smiled then transferred his attention to Naruto, letting the brothers catch up.

 

It was obvious to Kakashi that the full truth of the Uchiha massacre had been told to the general public immediately upon Itachi’s return. How else could the eldest Uchiha be moving around so freely and besides, Minato-sensei was not one to let an injustice lie unfixed longer than absolutely necessary.

 

Naruto was looking at Itachi and Sasuke with something akin to fondness and a quick onceover revealed no injuries. Then again, she’d had four days to recover. With Naruto’s healing, who knows what she could have bounced back from in that time?

 

“Ne, I’m fine, Kakashi,” Naruto grinned, easily reading her friends expression. “We met Hidan and Kakuzu on the way but neither Itachi nor myself was seriously injured.”

 

“Forgive me for being sceptical,” Kakashi snorted. “I remember you dislocating your shoulder once and still calling it ‘a small bump’.”

 

“Please,” Naruto huffed.  “That healed in, like, 20 minutes. It doesn’t qualify as serious.”

 

“Point proven,” Kakashi smirked when Sakura and Sai, who had been shamelessly eavesdropping, sent Naruto shocked looks.

 

“I can confirm Naruto-san’s assessment,” Itachi spoke and Kakashi glanced his way. “Neither of us were hurt badly.”

 

“See?” Naru grinned at Itachi before turning to raise an eyebrow at Kakashi. “What’d I tell you, Hatake?”

 

Kakashi huffed good-naturedly and carried on teasing his friend but a part of him was paying close attention to the way Itachi and Naruto interacted. Although it was possible that Itachi and Naruto had met during Naruto’s exile, it was unlikely that the meetings would have allowed them to interact normally for any significant length of time. Itachi’s position was too important for him to risk letting his guard down. Despite that, Itachi and Naruto seemed to be at ease in each other’s company.

 

As a thirteen year old, Itachi had been distant and aloof, held apart from most shinobi by his name and talent. One would think that spending five years undercover with the most dangerous missing-nins on the planet would not prove beneficial to social skills that most kindly described as ‘under-developed’. Itachi seemed determined to prove him wrong though. He talked freely to Sasuke and Naruto, his expression softening every time it landed on his little brother and he initiated conversation with Naruto instead of just speaking when spoken to. It was weird.

 

Then, for a very brief moment, Itachi’s gaze lingered on Naruto’s legs and suddenly it wasn’t weird at all. Itachi was a teenage boy in the presence of an incredibly attractive girl. Even the famed Uchiha stoicism was no match for hormones. Something curled, heavy and bitter, in Kakashi’s gut and he pulled out his copy of Icha Icha Paradise. There were only a couple of pages left before his favourite scene and if he was blocking from view what a sickeningly beautiful couple Itachi and Naruto would make then that was not a factor in his sudden craving to read. Not at all.

 

Meanwhile, Naruto was blissfully unaware of her friend’s thoughts and skipped happily beside Itachi, chatting a mile a minute. Sakura and Sai were, for once, completely silent since both genin realised they’d learn a lot more from listening than pestering their teammates with questions. Sasuke was being abnormally talkative, joy and relief at finally having his brother back safe and sound loosening his tongue and Sakura could do little more than stare at her crush, transfixed at seeing him so animated.

 

The sequence of events that occurred next happened so quickly that the genin were left scratching their heads a little. Itachi pushed Sasuke behind him and moved to shield the genin just as Kakashi sped to take a protective stance in front of Naruto, his forehead-protector raised and eyes narrowed. Three foreign ninja, two boys and a girl, had appeared ahead of them and the menace radiating off the shortest one of them was palpable. Nobody noticed the way Naruto smirked and crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes lighting with mischievous glee. For the moment, she was content to wait this out.

 

“You really don’t want to do that,” the taller of the boys said, his gaze lingering on the way Kakashi’s hand hovered over his weapons pouch.

“It’s not a good idea to threaten us.”

 

“You are foreign shinobi giving of killer intent in the presence of the Hokage’s daughter,” Kakashi informed them, his voice steady. “We are not the ones being threatening.”

 

Sakura shrunk back when the killing intent spiked, her eyes widening even as Sai reached for his brush. Sasuke stiffened and made to move forward but Itachi was blocking him. Scowling, Sasuke took a deep breath to calm himself and settled back into position.

 

“I’m telling you,” Temari spoke. “Gaara’s a monster. You should just let him pass before he gets mad.”

 

Just like that Naruto’s patience vanished, her good humour disappearing as she stepped past Kakashi, glancing at him from the corner of her eyes as she did so. Smart guy that he was, Kakashi got the message.

 

“A monster, huh?” Naruto scoffed.  “Well I guess it takes one to know one.”

 

That got exactly the reaction Naruto was hoping it would and Gaara’s siblings bristled with anger.

 

“Do you know who you’re talking to, bitch?” Kankurō glared. “Show some respect!”

 

Naruto outright laughed at that.

“The two of you have shown yourselves to be little more than insulting, judgemental and ignorant. You want my respect?” Naruto raised an eyebrow. “Earn it.”

 

From the letters she exchanged with Gaara, Naruto knew that his siblings were easily angered if you knew the right buttons to press. Because of that same correspondence, Naruto knew the right buttons to press.

 

Temari growled at her and drew her fans, aiming a blast of wind in Naruto’s direction. Naruto merely rolled her eyes and batted away the attack. Temari had the potential to be a truly fearsome ninja but, at her current level, she was no match for Naruto. Especially not with Naruto’s own elemental affinity.  Kankurō’s eyes narrowed to slits and he started to reach for the puppet slung over his shoulder. In the next moment Naruto had her hands around both his and Temari’s throats and was pinning them against a tree with little trouble. Kankurō blinked. What the fuck had happened?

 

Kakashi’s smirk was hidden behind his mask and Itachi’s face was typically impassive but the three genin couldn’t contain their shit-eating grins. It was always good to see a fellow ninja kick ass but when the asses in question were rude and hostile foreign ninja, seeing justice met swiftly and efficiently was all the sweeter.

 

Kakashi glanced at the short redhead that was the original source of the killing intent they’d felt. The menace had since dissipated and the boy, Gaara of the Sand, was watching his siblings get beaten up with apparent apathy. The Sand siblings were making a name for themselves and were in the bingo books of more than one Hidden Village. Their missions were reportedly bloody and over quickly. Gaara’s control over his sand was absolute and fearsome and his siblings barely had to lift a finger. He also seemed to be surprisingly willing to protect them given that, from what Kakashi had seen and heard, Kankurō and Temari treated Gaara like he was some sort of psychotic, unstable freak.

 

He didn’t pretend to be an expert in psychology but Kakashi thought it was odd that someone who was psychotic or unstable would care whether or not his teammates lived or died. Kankurō and Temari, like Konoha’s council, operated with a very narrow frame of mind. Holding in a sigh, Kakashi covered his sharingan once more and Itachi followed his example, relaxing in a way that would be unnoticed to anyone not well versed in Uchiha.  If there was anyone who was adept at setting people straight it was Naruto. Her stories about her exile were almost all about people who started off as enemies but eventually became friends. Naruto was almost as well connected as Jiraiya.

 

“You guys think Gaara is a monster?” Naruto scowled and her fingers tightened ever so slightly, making Kankurō and Temari gasp for breath.

“You think one tail is scary?” Naruto had already assimilated Kurama’s chakra so she used a henge to turn her irises into slits and her pupils’ red, a visual aid to help get her point across. “Try handling nine.”

 

Naruto’s hostages paled visibly and her lips curved into a wicked smirk.

“That’s right kiddies,” Naruto grinned. “You wanna meet a real monster? Because that can be arranged.”

 

“Naruto,” The voice that spoke was soft but commanding and the genin present almost jumped out of their skins.

 

“Yes, Gaara,” Naruto answered without turning her head.

 

“That’s enough,” Gaara said and Naruto’s scowl deepened.

 

“Are you sure?” Naruto asked. “These assholes should be taught a lesson.”

 

“I believe you have made your point.”

 

Naruto met and held Gaara’s gaze for a moment before nodding.

“Okay,” she said before turning back to Kankurō and Temari.

“Consider this your only warning,” Naruto spoke, low and fierce so that only the two sand siblings could hear. “Open your damn eyes and get to know your brother. You don’t want to know what will happen if I have to repeat myself.”

 

Kankurō and Temari both nodded as vigorously as Naruto’s hold on them would allow and Naru had to hold in a scoff as she dropped her arms and the two sank to the ground, their knees shaking too badly to hold their weight.

 

“So, Gaara,” Naruto spun to face her friend, her entire demeanour changing and a huge smile lighting her face. “Let’s go get some ramen, I’m starving! And after that we can go talk to my dad about a seal.”

 

She was about to hook an arm through Gaara’s and skip off, forgetting all about the people watching, when Kakashi hooked a finger into the back of her collar, halting her progress.

 

“What gives, Hatake?” Naruto grumbled, rubbing her neck where the action had caused her to choke.

 

“Naru,” Kakashi explained with exaggerated patience. “Anything involving your father, another jinchūriki and a seal comes before ramen.”

 

The expression of outrage on Naruto’s face was hilarious.

“Sacrilege!” she proclaimed. “Nothing comes before ramen!”

 

“I would prefer to speak to your father first,” Gaara spoke and Naruto turned to him with a betrayed expression.

 

“Not you too, Gaara!” She complained but had already started to lead the way to the Hokage tower.  “You’re supposed to be on my side, you know. We gotta stick together.”

 

Itachi held the Konoha genin back when they made to follow Naruto the two men, shooting his brother a reprimanding look when Sasuke scowled at him. Not one to stay disgruntled for long, it was Sakura who spoke up.

 

“Itachi-san,” Sakura asked, her hesitance to directly address Itachi obvious in her voice but her curiosity winning over. “What’s a jinchūriki?”

 

 

~O

 

 

Minato was having an exhausting day.

 

The chūnin exams were being held in Konoha this week and he was flooded with work. You would think that, being Hokage, he would be able to delegate but _everything_ required his personal approval. Housing for foreign shinobi, safety protocols, visa checks, extra training grounds, housing of and schmoozing with the visiting dignitaries…the list went on and Minato was very, very much looking forward to the exams being over.

 

The Kazekage had decided to attend the final round in person since all three of his children would be participating and Iwa was sending a delegation as well, quite a large one at that. Konoha had held the exams four times since Minato had been instated and all four times Iwa had refrained from entering. Imagine his surprise, then, when he received confirmation that they would be sending not one, but six teams this time. Of course the fact that this was the first time in ten years since Naruto had been in the village and would be moving around out of his supervision had nothing to do with their decision. Nothing at all.

 

A humourless smirk curved Minato’s lips. You would have thought that Iwa had learned by now that distance meant little to him. Naruto could be all the way in Kumo and all she had to do was throw his kunai for him to be there in a second. Besides, his daughter was far from helpless. She was _his_ daughter after all. If Iwa was planning to harm Naruto then he was going to make what he’d done to them during the war look like something akin to a little kid cooing over a cute animal. A knock on the door roused Minato from his dark thoughts and his bad mood evaporated the moment Naruto came skipping into his office.

 

“Naru!” Minato beamed. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

 

“I brought lunch!” Naruto proclaimed, holding up the containers of take-out ramen she’d insisted on stopping for.

 

“And a friend as well?” Minato prodded, his eyebrows rising when he noticed Gaara.

 

Kakashi met his sensei’s gaze and, seeing the question there, nodded to confirm Minato’s suspicions. This was the jinchūriki of the Ichibi.

 

“This is Gaara,” Naruto smiled. “Gaara, this is my dad.”

 

The two men exchanged handshakes, Minato nodding his greeting and Gaara staying silent. Naruto briefly wondered why it was that she always seemed to befriend the stoic, silent type of guy.

 

“We need your help,” Naruto explained when it became obvious that Gaara was not going to do so. “Gaara’s seal is….well,” she shrugged her shoulders and met her father’s gaze, “to me it looks highly unstable. It’s only barely containing Shukaku’s chakra and has done nothing to stop Shukaku from influencing Gaara.”

 

“May I see the seal?” Minato asked and Gaara nodded, pushing his scarf out of the way and lifting his top to reveal the seal that held back Shukaku. It was placed in almost the exact same place as Naruto’s had been but was drastically different, both in structure and appearance.

 

Minato frowned as he examined the seal, absently reaching for a book on his desk. He flicked through the tome, navigating the pages with the ease of practice and his frown deepened when he found the page he was looking for and perused its contents.

 

“You were right to be worried,” Minato said as he quickly sketched out Gaara’s seal onto a piece of paper. “It looks like there’s only one anchor point which is, frankly, ludicrous if you’re expecting to hold back a bijū.”

 

He turned to Gaara.

“I need to do a bit more research to clarify a few things but we can definitely do something to reinforce your seal. Come to my office tomorrow, around lunch time. We can fix this then.”

 

“Thank you, Hokage-sama” Gaara bowed formal but fluid.

 

“I don’t mean to be a downer,” Kakashi spoke. “But are you sure that’s alright, sensei? Shouldn’t we consult the Kazekage first?”

 

“My father will not care,” Gaara’s response was immediate. “In fact, I have reason to believe my father is…not himself.”

 

“Ne, you never mentioned anything like this,” Naruto pouted, her eyes narrowing as she regarded her friend.

 

“I was waiting for the right time,” Gaara replied and Naruto rolled her eyes, correctly interpreting that to mean he wanted to see what her father was like first.

 

Naruto’s exile was a sore point in her friendship with Gaara. He was of the opinion that the Hokage would never have allowed Naruto’s exile if he’d truly cared for her. Naruto, on the other hand, was personally involved with the matter in question had a much clearer view of what had happened and knew that her father’s love for her was never in question. Getting Gaara to see that though was proving to be…difficult.

 

Nonetheless, they were on the right path now. Gaara had been introduced to the Hokage and no blood had been shed. That was a very positive sign. Naru had high hopes for the sealing tomorrow and so she was in a fantastic mood as she skipped home. Then she spotted Itachi and her mood brightened. Ever since he’d returned to the village, the oldest Uchiha had been kept busy with all the official work that was involved in reinstating him as the head of his clan. Now, however, he should have some free time and Naruto could ask for something she’d been dying to do.

 

“Itachi!” Naruto greeted, beaming up at him and noting the way his eyes lightened slightly in amusement.

 

“Naruto-san,” Itachi replied. “I trust your visit with your father was a good one?”

 

“Hm? Oh, sure!” Naruto waved away the discreet question. “Everything’s fine there, no worries. I wanted to ask you something though. Are you doing anything tomorrow afternoon?”

 

“Not as of yet,” Itachi answered, his steady gaze the only clue as to his curiosity.

 

“Great!” Naruto grinned. “Then you’re free to spar with me. Training ground 10? Three on clock?”

 

“I look forward to it,” Itachi replied and Naruto laughed, she knew the feeling.

 

When her exile had ended, one of the first things she’d done was seek out Kakashi for just this purpose. Spending all those years fighting for her life turned a friendly fight against someone on her level from a great way to keep in shape into something life-affirming. It was like proof that she was home and among friends and with people who would watch her back. Itachi would likely feel the same way.

 

As Naruto waved goodbye to Itachi and continued on her way home, blonde hair swinging behind her and eyes brighter than the sky, she had no idea that the entire encounter had been watched. Kakashi pulled his book out and turned around, going back the way he’d come from. 


	8. I'm A Big, Big Girl In A Big, Big World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This fic is actually quite fluffy and light-hearted overall. Very little angst here folks. All I really wanted to do was set up a universe that I've been itching to write. If there's interest, I might be persuaded into writing a sequel ;)

****

_I felt that if he touched me, I’d die, and then the thought crawled into my brain that if he didn’t touch me, I’d die._

_-Kitty Thomas_

 

Her back arched, blonde hair falling away from her face as she moaned out her pleasure. Calloused hands ran up her thighs, moulding her ass before grabbing the flesh there, dragging her closer to the strong body that was currently driving her crazy. Naruto lifted her legs, wrapping them around Kakashi’s waist. He was large and thick, filling and stretching her perfectly and he knew exactly what he was doing. Naruto cried out when he pulled out then thrust back in, hard and fast, his balls slapping against her ass.

 

“That’s it,” his voice was rough, his breath hot and moist against her ear and he nipped at the lobe, pulling a little before letting go.

“Come on, Naru. Come for me.”

 

Naruto’s hands threaded through soft strands of his hair, digging her heels into his back, she lifted her hips, meeting him thrust for thrust.

 

“’Please,” she begged. “Harder.”

 

“As you wish, babe.”

 

Then she was being flipped onto her stomach before being dragged onto her knees. Her legs were shoved roughly apart then Kakashi was pushing back into her, his grip on her hips strong enough to bruise. Naruto’s arms collapsed beneath her, her eyes rolling into the back of her head and she could do little more than grab for a purchase on the sheets as her breath was fucked out of her, leaving her dizzy and panting for more.

 

His hands shaped her ass again, squeezing and spreading her cheeks. The rough pad of a thumb brushed against the puckered hole there and Naruto melted. His hand slipped over her hip, tracing her hipbone down to her clit and his finger rubbed against the bundle of nerves there and the sensation was almost too much. She clenched the walls of her cunt around him in retaliation, smirking at the broken groan that escaped his lips. 

 

Kakashi slapped her ass, his cock pounding into her with the kind of brute force only a ninja could manage. With each thrust of his hips, Naruto’s breath was forced out of her in choked gasps. The fingers of one hand found her clit once more and one from the other hand sunk into her ass, all the way to the knuckle, and Naruto was lost.

 

Her scream of pleasure turned into the shrill screech of her alarm clock and she snapped awake, pulse racing and beads of sweat dotting her skin.

 

“Oh balls,” Naruto swore as she woke.

 

At nearly seventeen years of age, proof-reader for the most loved erotic fiction writer (and biggest pervert) in the elemental nations, and exposed to extremely attractive men on a regular basis, Naruto was no stranger to wet dreams. Having those dreams about her best friend was a different story. She rubbed at her face with her hands, trying to banish the images that still lingered before stumbling to the shower and letting the hot spray wake her fully.

 

Her father had already left for his office and Naruto had the morning free to do as she pleased. Usually she would have sought out Kakashi for a couple of hours but he had his team to look after and she was still a little out of sorts from her dream. So Naruto sauntered through town instead and let herself drink up the sights and sounds of Konoha with no clear destination in mind.

 

The village was bustling with the influx of visitors for the chūnin exams and Naruto could pass through the crowds relatively unnoticed. One or two people called out, or waved to her as she passed, and Naruto always returned the greeting with a cheerful grin but, for the most part, she was left alone. It was a nice change of pace to have nothing to do but, after a couple of hours, Naruto grew bored and decided to find an empty training field. And that was how Team Gai, also in search of a free training ground, managed to stumble upon a sight that caused Gai and Lee’s flames of youth to practically explode.

 

The training ground was populated with at least a two dozen shadow clones which were sorted into groups and dedicating themselves to different tasks. A couple of them were running through taijutsu forms, some were elbow deep in scrolls, some were ironing out kinks in their ninjutsu techniques. Two clones were even sparring with swords, and others with bo staffs. The overall effect was one of motion and competence and Gai and his protégée practically melted at such a shining example of the genius of hard work.

 

“Hello,” one of the clones greeted as she noticed their presence.

 

“Namikaze-san!” Maito Gai gushed. “It is truly inspiring to see such youthful passion in a fellow ninja!”

 

“Meh,” Naruto shrugged off the compliment as the shadow clones dispersed to reveal that they’d been talking to the original all along. “I was bored.”

 

“Then perhaps you might be willing to train with us?” Gai asked, quickly seizing the opportunity to get his team to train with a prodigy like Naruto. “It would be most beneficial to this team.”

 

“Sure,” Naruto flipped her hair over her shoulders and smiled at the team. Gai and Lee erupted with delight, Neji merely scowled and looked away but Ten-Ten looked pleased with the development.

 

“Okay then,” Naruto said as flames somehow seemed to appear around Gai and Lee. She quickly turned away from the site and gave her attention to Neji and Ten-Ten.

“We’ll do two on one okay? I’ve heard you guys work well together.”

 

She’d heard correctly. Neji and Ten-Ten displayed remarkable teamwork. It was more than familiarity with each other’s fighting styles. The way they worked was so instinctual and synchronized it seemed telepathic. There was no such thing as telepathy, of course. Ten-Ten and Neji were just spectacularly suited to each other. In a few years they would probably be inseparable.

 

“You have trained with a Hyūga before,” Neji accused once she had called it a day.

 

“Yep,” Naruto nodded. “When I was in the Academy, I had trouble with chakra control. Your dad helped me out.”

 

As expected, mention of his father made Neji clam right up. His jaw clenched, eyes hardened and he started to turn away but Naruto was having none of it.

 

“You’re trying to perfect the 64 Trigrams right?” Naruto asked, causing Neji to stop walking and look at her. “I can help with that.”

 

“You can?” Neji asked, his brows contracting.

 

“Sure,” Naruto grinned. “You’ve gotta hit the chakra points for the technique to work right?”

 

“Yes,” Neji confirmed. “So?”

 

“So,” Naruto’s grin thinned into a smug, satisfied smirk. “Let’s just say that speed runs in the family.”

 

~O

 

Sabaku No Gaara was not a person who was easily scared. Contrary to popular opinion, he was not unfamiliar with physical pain. Ever since his first meeting with Naruto, Gaara had had his eyes opened to the world around him. Yes, his situation was less than desirable but nobody was ever fully content with their lot in life. Naruto had shown Gaara that what other’s thought of him was second to what he thought of himself. He was only a monster if he behaved that way.

 

So Gaara had started learning the shinobi arts. The theory part of the genin exam was a simple matter of study and the Kazekage’s influence ensured that Gaara didn’t even have to take the practical part of the exam. Knowing how hard Naruto had had to work to make genin when kids her age hadn’t even started the Academy made something in Gaara chafe at the special treatment. So he took it upon himself to keep all his skills honed. Sand clones made for excellent taijutsu partners ninjutsu was slightly more difficult to learn without guidance but Gaara was a talented shinobi even without his bijū. Any obstacles in his training were eventually overcome.

 

All of this meant that Gaara was as accustomed to pain and hard work as any self-respecting shinobi and those that thought otherwise were very, very mistaken. That being said, fear was something he had not felt in years. Ever since Yashamaru had died, Gaara had locked himself away and let few people close. Nobody could breach his defences and there was a never a mission that scared Gaara.

Now, standing in front of the Hokage with his chest bared, Gaara could admit to being more than a little apprehensive.

 

His seal had always been something wondrous to Gaara. At first he thought it held his mother’s soul so that she could protect him from beyond the grave. Then he’d learned what he was and he realised that the seal held Shukaku, the one-tailed racoon dog. The knowledge that he was a jinchūriki would have broken Gaara were Naruto not the one to point it out to him. With her usual blunt and straight-forward manner, Naruto had treated Gaara like he was…normal and it was that lack of airs or artifice that endeared her to him the most.

 

Gaara had become wary of people, especially people who were politically important. Their actions and words were always laced with double meaning and their intentions were foggy at best. Powerful people cared only about retaining or increasing their power and Gaara did not trust them. When he had learned that Naruto had been exiled, he had immediately assumed that her father was the same. He was the Hokage and so his word was law. If he truly wanted his daughter to stay in the village all he had to do was say so.

 

Then he had met the Hokage and mere minutes spent watching him with Naruto had Gaara revising his opinions. The Kazekage was a distant and uncaring parent but the same was not true for the rest of Suna. As a child, Gaara had spent long hours watching families interact from the safety of the rooftops.  He knew what loving parents looked like and it was painfully obvious that Namikaze Minato loved his daughter very, very much. He watched Naruto hang onto her father’s every word as Minato explained the new seal and the functions of each element. He watched as Minato’s eyes shone with pride when Naruto asked a particularly pertinent question and, once the sealing was done, he watched as Naruto smiled gratefully at her father and Minato ruffled his daughter’s hair, affection etched on every line of his face.

 

And so Gaara had found himself telling Naruto and the Hokage about his suspicions. About how his father had seemed different. About how Shukaku seemed was getting increasingly agitated by the Kazekage’s presence. And about the plans the Kazekage had for the chūnin exam final. Naruto huffed at the information, the corners of her mouth tilting downwards and showing how upset she was at the news. Minato’s expression did not change but his voice was heavy as he thanked Gaara for the information.

 

Something in Gaara lightened as he left the office. He felt unburdened, like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He didn’t know what the Hokage was going to do with his information but he did not care. He trusted Naruto. She would not betray him. So it was with something akin to a smile that Gaara made his way to Ichirakus. He’d heard a lot about ramen. It was time to find out if Naruto was correct about the food.

 

 

~O

 

 

Kakashi had a plan. Never let it be said that he was slow on the uptake and ever since Naruto had returned from her exile, all grown up and breathtakingly beautiful but still the girl who could make him smile just by being herself, Kakashi had fallen hard and fast.

 

He knew himself well enough to recognise the signs. He could pick out her voice in the middle of a crowded market and even after ten years apart he could read her tells better than anyone. Naruto herself had told him so. Kakashi found his gaze drawn to Naruto whenever they were in the same room and while their correspondence during her exile had been scarce, her letters had always left him feeling lighter than he did before. Then she’d returned and slotted straight back into his life like she’d never left in the first place.

 

She was the most important person in his life right now and Kakashi knew, with absolute certainty, that he would never again be able to handle a lengthy separation. He also knew that he was not selfless enough to be able to watch Naruto be happy with another man and if he did not make his move soon that was exactly what he would end up doing. So that afternoon Kakashi made his way over to Naruto’s house. It was late enough that she would have cleaned up after her spar with Itachi but early enough that she would not have eaten yet.

 

“Dinner?” Naruto’s eyebrows lifted as she eyed Kakashi. He was dressed in slacks and a collared shirt, his forehead protector exchanged for a band of plain black cloth and his hair brushed into obedience. “Somewhere fancy?”

 

Kakashi managed to make his shrug feel casual.

“Sure,” he said. “It’s this new place and Gai’s been going on and on about how difficult it is to get reservations.”

 

“Ah,” Understanding dawned on Naruto’s face. “This is another attempt to get one up on Gai? You pick the weirdest ways to continue this rivalry, Hatake but count me in.”

 

And with that she turned and dashed to her room to change, leaving Kakashi to breathe a sigh of relief. While it was true that Gai had been talking his ear off about the new restaurant, it had very little influence over Kakashi’s decision to take Naruto there. She would realise eventually that this was a date and when she did Kakashi wanted to have pulled out all the stops. Almost every review Kakashi had read ranked the food at Laverne’s amongst the best in the shinobi nations and so deciding on the venue had been easy.

 

Now he just had to make sure the night was a success. The clacking of high heels against tile drew Kakashi from his musing and he glanced up in time to find Naruto sashaying back into the kitchen. A fitted black dress clung to her body, the neckline dipping low and giving a tantalising glimpse of the top of her breasts. Naruto had piled her hair on top of her head in a style that showed off the curve of her neck and bare shoulders and Tsunade’s necklace glinted from between her collarbones.

 

“Wow,” Kakashi was incredibly grateful for his mask because he was almost certain he was gaping. “You clean up good, Naru.”

 

“Thanks,” Naruto grinned. “I couldn’t let you show me up, could I?”

 

Kakashi took the backhanded compliment in the good spirit it had been intended and offered Naruto his arm, smiling when she took it without hesitation. Naruto insisted that she could walk in heels, Tsunade had made her wear pumps for almost a year until she could move equally well in and out of them, so the two strolled through the town and enjoyed the warm summer evening. 

 

Neither were fully aware of the picture they made, both with light hair and dark clothes; and both uncommonly good looking. More than one person turned for a second look and more than one ninja blinked in surprise at seeing the Hokage’s daughter and the Copy-Nin out on what was obviously a date. The latter was part of Kakashi’s plan. Nobody could gossip quite like a ninja and by tomorrow it would have spread through the ranks that the two of them were dating and, hopefully, those ranks included thrice-damned Uchiha’s that were too talented for their own good and with a sob story to boot. Okay so Kakashi might just be a little bit jealous and more than a little protective. So sue him.

 

Kakashi did not have reservations but the maître d’ glanced up, recognised the Hokage’s daughter and student, and immediately ushered them towards a table for two. Naruto glanced around, taking in the décor with a tiny smile which grew when she met Kakashi’s gaze once more.

 

“This place looks amazing,” Naruto said. “Very swanky indeed. I should commend Gai on his taste.”

 

Kakashi didn’t dignify that with an answer and merely accepted his menu when it was handed to him. The dishes all sounded enticing, familiar ingredients cooked in different and exciting ways and one comment about juniper berries sparked an amusing anecdote from Naruto about Jiraiya going undercover as a restaurateur. Of course, he leered a bit too much at one of his  ‘patrons’ and got punched so hard by Tsunade that he flew right through the main restaurant, through the kitchen and into the storage area. The Sannin had destroyed most of the fresh goods and a good portion of the crockery and had had to wash dishes for three days before Jiraiya finally got frustrated enough to part with his hard earned cash and pay off their debt.

 

From there the evening flowed with little effort on Kakashi’s part. He let his fingers brush against Naruto’s as much as possible and was more attentive than he’d ever been to anyone before. Kakashi was at his most charming. Only some of the compliments he showered Naruto with were backhanded, the rest were sincere and made Naruto blink a little in surprise at first. By the time they were having desert a speculative gleam had entered her eyes and Kakashi’s heartbeat thundered in his ears. Naruto had always been scarily good at reading him and now that she was starting to understand what the evening was about, excitement began to curl low and heavy in Kakashi’s gut.

 

They kept up the pretence over coffee and Naruto was still playing along as they left the restaurant but she slipped her hand into his and pressed close so Kakashi counted it as a win. Silence fell between them as Kakashi escorted Naruto back home but it was a comfortable one and Kakashi smiled down at his friend, letting her hand go in favour of draping his arm around her shoulders. Naruto sighed and pressed closer and the way Kakashi’s grin widened was hidden by his mask.

 

“Ne, Kakashi, this was nice,” Naruto sighed as they approached her door.

 

“It was,” Kakashi agreed.

 

“We should do it again,” Naruto mused. “What about Wednesday evening? There’s that new sushi bar that I’ve been dying to try out.”

 

“Sure,” Kakashi shrugged. If Naruto wanted to feign ignorance of what the night had meant that was fine with him. Two could play at that game.

“It’s a date,” and with a casual, two-fingered salute Kakashi body-flickered out of sight, leaving a laughing Naruto behind.

 

Naruto practically danced up the stairs to her bedroom. Just this morning she’d been cursing the inconvenient feelings she had for her best friend, bemoaning the way they’d invaded her subconscious and turned her dreams X-rated. Now it seemed like those feelings were reciprocated and not so inconvenient after all.

 

A blush coloured Naruto’s cheeks as she remembered the way Kakashi’s body had felt against hers in her dreams and she stifled her squeal of delight with a pillow. It looked like she would be finding out if her dreams did him justice sooner than she’d anticipated. 


	9. But To Me Know That You'll Always Be, My Little Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This fic is actually quite fluffy and light-hearted overall. Very little angst here folks. All I really wanted to do was set up a universe that I've been itching to write. If there's interest, I might be persuaded into writing a sequel ;)

****

_You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them_

-          _Desmond Tutu_

“C’mon Sakura, spill!” Yamanaka Ino urged as she leaned forward, eagerly hanging on to her friend’s every word.

 

“About what?” Sakura asked, confusion knitting her brows as Inner Sakura began to sweat. Surely Ino didn’t know about the box of cookies she’d left at the Uchiha’s door, too nervous to ring the bell and drop them off in person?

 

“Don’t play dumb,” Ino scoffed. “Everybody’s been talking about it. Your sensei and Namikaze Naruto went on a date!”

 

“Eh!” Surprise and indignation at being the last to know this titbit of gossip quickly wiped out any relief Sakura might have felt at not being caught leaving gifts for their crush.

“When did this happen?”

 

“Last night!” Ino crowed. “They went to Laverne’s.”

 

“Swanky,” Sakura whistled. “Sensei’s got _taste._ ”

 

“He cleans up good too, I’ve heard,” Ino’s tone was suggestive enough to make Sakura grimace.

 

“Ew! Ino! He’s like, 30!” Sakura complained, Kakashi-sensei was good looking but he was _old._

 

“Nope, 22.” Ino grinned, “ten years isn’t that big of a difference.”

 

“You’re gross,” Sakura wrinkled her nose at her friend and took a sip of tea before getting the conversation back on course.

“But how do you know how he looked? Did you see them?”

 

“No but Mitarashi Anko did. I heard her talking to Team 8’s sensei.” Ino confessed.

 

“And?” Sakura prompted, eager for details. “What did she say?”

 

“What didn’t she say? That woman has got to have the best memory in Konoha,” Ino flipped her hair over her shoulder and leaned closer to Sakura, painting the perfect picture of gossiping teens.

“According to Mitarashi-san, they were both wearing dark colours. Hatake san wore slacks and a button down and Naruto-san had on this LBD. Strapless, mid-thigh and topped off with six inch open-toe pumps.”

 

“Bordering on slutty?” Sakura wondered.

 

“Not a chance,” Ino scoffed. “Have you seen Naruto-san? She’s like the definition of classy.”

 

“It’s strange, isn’t it?” Sakura voiced thoughts that had been niggling at her ever since she’d first met Namikaze Naruto.

“I mean, Naruto-sensei basically spent her formative years in the wild. How’d she end up so polished?”

 

“Must be in the blood,” Ino offered. “Hokage-sama is very dignified. Maybe it’s like inherited or something.”

 

“Good genes,” Sakura agreed with a sage nod. Some people really were blessed.

 

From the next table, unseen by either Ino or Sakura, Hinata stifled a sigh. She’d never been particularly close to her classmates at the Academy and although she got along well with Kiba-kun and Shino-kun, Hinata sometimes wished she had a girl her own age to talk to. Then she overheard a conversation like the one that had just taken place and was very, very glad to be excluded from such gossip.

 

Nothing Ino or Sakura had said was mean or spiteful in any way nor could it be interpreted as such and Hinata had been eager to hear about this date until the subject of Namikaze-san’s exile had been touched on. Ino and Sakura might not have talked about the exile much but the mere mention of such a horrible thing was enough to make Hinata’s tea taste sour. The entire village had an opinion about what had happened to Namikaze-san during those ten years and didn’t hesitate to share those opinions loudly and with anybody who would listen.

 

Such interest amongst civilians was understandable. They had no concept of the dangers a ninja could face when exiled. Enemy ninja aside, without a protection of a village, a ninja was vulnerable. Sources of income were rare and, for a six year old, practically non-existent. Every day would have been a struggle to survive and that Namikaze-san had come out of it healthy in body and mind spoke of incredible strength of character.

 

The ninja of Konoha should know better than to make light of such an ordeal. Yes, Namikaze-san was one of the greatest prodigies the village had ever seen but she was, first and foremost, a person. She had a right to privacy. Gossip about who was dating whom or the latest in ninja fashion was harmless and kind of fun. Gossiping about something that had been difficult and best and possibly quite traumatic for not only a fellow ninja, but their Hokage as well, was an entirely different matter. The experiences ninja faced on missions were usually avoided. Everybody had faced tough situations and empathy was enough to keep ninja from speculating about other ninjas’ missions. Why then could that same courtesy not have been extended to the Namikazes?

 

“Penny for your thoughts, Hinata-chan?”

 

Hinata startled as the voice invaded her musings, stumbling a little and gaze flying upwards to meet amused blue eyes.

 

“Naruto-san,” Hinata managed to say. “G-good morning!”

 

“It is, isn’t it?” Naruto grinned, tilting her face up towards the cloudless sky and drinking in the sunshine.

“It’s a great day to be outdoors. Are you on your way to meet your team?”

 

“Not today,” Hinata shook her head. “We’re all training individually. Kurenai-sensei’s been called away.”

 

“Is that so?” Naruto glanced down at Hinata with a curious tilt to her eyebrows. “Would you like some company, or would you prefer to train alone today?”

 

“Um, well,” Hinata stammered, “I was going to ask one of the clan members to spar with me but, if you’re sure you have the time…I mean, I d-don’t want to impose…”

 

“I offered didn’t I?” Naruto smiled, the gentle reminder going a long way toward soothing Hinata’s nervousness.

“Anything in particular you wanted to work on?”

 

“Ninjutsu?” Hinata suggested as they reached the training ground and started to warm up.

 

“Okay,” Naruto nodded and led Hinata through a series of stretches, some familiar to the genin and others less so. “Is there something in particular you’re working on?”

 

“Well, I’m trying to perfect the 64-palms technique,” Hinata admitted.

 

A blush of embarrassment stained her cheeks as she remembered the last training session Hinata had had with a branch member. She had only managed to hit 50 points and she had a feeling her opponent had been going easy on her.

 

“Sure,” Naruto grinned. “Sounds fun!”

 

The thing was, Hinata mused, Naruto sounded like she actually meant that. As Naruto dodged Hinata’s strikes with seemingly little effort, she called out encouragement and pointers to help the genin improve. Hinata listened to them all but could not help but notice the way Naruto’s eyes lit up as they sparred, her laughter flowing freely. It was strange that something as simple as training with someone far below her level could bring the older woman such joy. Not many ninjas would feel that way it was a testament to Naruto-sans character that she did.

 

The Yondaime was the most beloved Hokage Konoha had seen and it was for a very good reason. As powerful as he was, the Yondaime never failed to take the time every once in a while to put aside his official duties and stroll through the village, spending time with the civilians and just ensuring that his people were happy and prospering. It was what set him apart from his predecessors and it was a quality his daughter had inherited.

 

Naruto-san had been back for a few months now and every week, on her way to meet her team for their standing Sunday brunch arrangement, she inevitably came across Naruto-san leaving the orphanage. According to Ino, Naruto-san volunteered there every weekend. And when she wasn’t spending her free time with orphans she was helping genin with confidence-issues. If Hinata wasn’t already the poster girl for inadequacy, it would have been enough to make her feel 2 inches tall.

 

“Ne, Hinata-chan,” Naruto tilted her head to the side as she regarded the younger girl. “You seem distracted.”

 

“S-sorry, `Naruto-san!” Hinata quickly bowed in apology. “I did not mean to cause offense!”

 

“Relax, Hinata-chan. I’m not offended,” Naruto smiled. “But you’ve been working pretty hard and its lunch time now. Maybe we should call it a day?”

 

“Of course! T-thank you for your time, Naruto-san.” Hinata said.

 

“It was a pleasure, as always, Hinata-chan” Naruto smiled.  “And for what it’s worth, I think you’ll do just fine in the genin exams.”

 

“I hope you’re right, Naruto-san” Hinata blushed. “Thank you, again.”

 

Naruto waved Hinata off, a fond smile curling her lips as the genin left the training grounds. Hinata had a lot of potential but her low self-esteem was a major road block towards unlocking it. For someone as introverted and compassionate as Hinata, being constantly compared to Neji must be extremely damaging to her confidence. Especially when Neji was so hostile. The thing about it was, if they could ever relax around each other enough to get along, the cousins would be a formidable team. With Neji’s talent and Hinata’s compassion, they could revolutionise the Hyūga clan. Maybe the upcoming exams could help them see that. Or maybe Danzo would suddenly become a pacifist.

 

“You can both come out now,” she eventually said, her voice echoing around the seemingly empty training ground.

 

After a moment, Kakashi and Itachi appeared, jumping from their perch in one of the trees bordering the area and landing lightly on their feet. Naruto smiled at them both but it grew when she met Kakashi’s gaze. Three ‘dates’ in and their relationship was progressing very nicely indeed. They had a picnic planned for tomorrow and she was planning to drop all pretences then. She fantasised about what it would be like to kiss him _all the time_ and she really couldn’t hold out for much longer. If Naruto and Kakashi’s eyes met for a moment longer than was strictly necessary, Itachi very politely pretended not to notice.

 

“So, what’s up?” Naruto asked when the silence dragged on for a beat too long.

 

“Jiraiya’s back,” Kakashi said. “He’s waiting in your Dad’s office.”

 

“So they sent both of you as escorts?” Naruto rolled her eyes even as a smile threatened to curve her lips. “Isn’t that overkill?”

 

“We volunteered,” Itachi replied and Naruto tilted her head at him.

 

“Bored already, Itachi?” she teased. “Being a regular ninja after all those years as a missing nin must be such a come down.”

 

Itachi didn’t verbally respond but amusement glinted in his eyes and he let the corners of his mouth twitch slightly so Naruto outright laughed.

 

“You know what I miss?” Naruto sighed as they started to make their way towards the Hokage tower. “Those free-for-all training sessions we used to have. Those were _fun._ ”

 

“Itachi and I ended up with chakra exhaustion more than once during those sessions, if I recall correctly,” Kakashi reminded her.

 

“Not my fault if you’re having stamina problems,” Naruto had skipped slightly ahead of the two men but turned her head to wink at them and Kakashi’s heart skipped a beat at the double entendre.

 

“One of these days, Naru, someone is gonna wreck you. Then we’ll talk about stamina,” Kakashi replied.

 

“Is that a…” Naruto trailed off sharply as all three ninja felt the oncoming attack at the same time.

 

Letting her friends do their jobs, Naruto stayed where she was when Kakashi moved in front of her and Itachi covered her back. The sound of metal against metal was loud in the otherwise deserted alley as the Konoha ninja deflected the shuriken launched towards them with their kunai. In the next breath the alley was crowded with Iwa ninja and Naruto fought the urge to groan.

 

“Should I call my Dad?” she asked, unwilling to risk either of them getting hurt.

 

Itachi glanced around the alley. There were around twenty Iwa ninja, all jōnin level and above, surrounding them. Then Itachi glanced at his companions, Hatake Kakashi and Namikaze Naruto.

 

“I do not believe that will be necessary, Naruto-san,” Itachi assured her.

 

A battle like the one they were about to engage in was sure to attract attention and the Hokage would come whether or not Naruto called for him. This way, Iwa would find out that Namikaze Naruto was not a little girl cowering behind Daddy’s protection. Itachi was merely taking the opportunity to be around to see them learn that lesson.

 

“I like the way you think, Itachi,” Naruto smirked and Kakashi almost hung his head in exasperation. Why was he always stuck with all the glory hounds?

 

“Let’s try to keep the body count to a minimum,” Naruto suggested as she prepared herself to attack. “Papa’s gonna want a word with these morons.”

 

Until that moment, the Iwa ninja had been prepared to wait. After watching Namikaze Naruto for a few weeks, they had chosen this alley for the ambush. It was easy to block off the exits and the girl was usually alone, on her way to meet her friends after training. That there were two others with her was unfortunate but not a major stumbling block. The Konoha ninja were outnumbered and the girl would undoubtedly call for her father and, this time, they would be prepared for Namikaze Minato and his Flying Thunder God technique. This time that murderous bastard would get what was coming to him.

 

The Iwa ninja got what they were hoping for…kind of. A yellow flash did indeed dash through them, cutting through the assembled group with far too much ease but it was not Namikaze Minato that was attacking them. It was his daughter. Caught by surprise because the girl had done little more that train with genin and socialise over the past couple of weeks, the Iwa ninja were slow to react to Naruto. That was their first mistake.

 

Their second was disregarding her companions. So overpowering was their obsession with the Namikazes that they failed to recognise exactly whom Naruto was with and that was to their detriment. Kakashi and Itachi were well known throughout the Elemental Nations, their faces easily recognisable and their skills feared and respected. The gathered Iwa ninja recognised the blazing red threat of the sharingan far too late however and had too little time to prepare a proper defence.

 

Even if the Iwa ninja had been better prepared, Itachi’s predictions ran true. None of the Konoha ninja made any effort to hide their flares of chakra. As attuned to both Naruto and Kakashi as he was, the fight had barely started before Minato arrived and his gaze hardened as he took in the scene. Holding up a hand to stop the growing crowd of Konoha ninja from interfering, Minato crossed his arms over his chest and watched his best ninja in action.

 

He was proud of all his people but, watching Naruto in action for the first time, he realised that the pride of a Hokage had zilch on the pride of a father. Naruto twirled her way through the Iwa ninja, kunai flashing. She barely even had to use ninjutsu, just the occasional call to her wind affinity augmenting her taijutsu as she disabled the ninja in her way with scary proficiency.

 

“Man, am I glad they’re on our side,” Minato heard Shiranui Genma remark and he almost smiled because Genma had a point.

 

Naruto, Kakashi and Itachi had grown up together. From the Academy, all the way through to Naruto’s banishment, the three had been inseparable. Watching them now, it was clear that the years apart had done little to damage that rapport. Then Kakashi took a hit to his arm and faltered slightly and Minato almost saw red. Naruto was there before he could blink, however, dispensing justice swiftly and efficiently. From his vantage point on the alley wall, Minato could see the way Naruto and Kakashi raked their gazes over each other, cataloguing injuries, before turning back to the fight.

 

Minato held in a sigh and fought the urge to let his shoulders slump. Naru wasn’t a little girl any more (as she was very clearly proving right this moment). It was inevitable that she was going to take an interest in boys. In fact, she had probably been doing so for a few years already. He’d even seen this particular romance coming a mile away. Neither of the two had been particularly subtle. Still this was yet another reminder that his little girl wasn’t so little anymore. Then the ninja that had gathered were cheering and Minato was pulled from his musings to realise that all the Iwa ninja were bound and gagged and ripe for interrogation.

 

“We have a present for you, Papa,” Naruto flipped her hair over her shoulder with a toss of her head and grinned up at him and something in Minato eased.

 

Naruto smiled at him like he was still her hero, even after all that happened, and that was more than enough for Minato. Jumping from his perch, Minato returned her smile and ruffled her hair before regarding the captured ninja. He didn’t speak but all traces of the loving father disappeared, leaving only the angry and powerful Hokage.

 

“Take them away,” Minato ordered and a few of Ibiki’s men hurried to comply.

“Are the three of you okay?”

 

“I’m fine,” Naruto shrugged. “Nothing that hasn’t already healed.”

 

“I do not have any injuries requiring immediate attention,” Itachi confirmed.

 

“Okay then. Kakashi, get that cut on your arm bandaged then meet me at T&I. Naru, go with him. Itachi, you come with me,” Minato said before Kakashi could try and brush off his own injury. He was predictable that way.

 

“Yes sensei,” Kakashi intoned, bowing in agreement even as his jaw tightened with annoyance and Minato merely grinned at him.

 

“Come on, Hatake,” Naruto laughed. “Let’s get your slow ass to a medic.”

 

“I can take care of Hatake-sans wound,” one of the ninja that had gathered to watch the fight came forward.

 

Kakashi obligingly held out his arm and shot Naruto a sour look.

“I assure you, Naru,” he said as the medic cleaned and bandaged the cut, “my ass is neither lazy nor slow as you are so fond of accusing.”

 

“Prove it,” Naruto raised an eyebrow in challenge, a smirk playing along her lips, and Kakashi’s gut twisted itself into knots.

 

The medic chose that moment to softly clear her throat and both Naruto and Kakashi blinked, remembering they were in public. Naruto blushed slightly and looked away but the medic was already putting her supplied back into her hip pouch.

 

“That should do, Hatake-san.” The medic said and Kakashi nodded his thanks.

 

Then Naruto and Kakashi were alone in the alley and an awkward silence was quickly building. Naruto peeked at Kakashi from beneath her lashes, something in her softening when she found him looking at her and clearly at a loss as to what to say.

 

“I was serious you know,” Naruto said as she moved closer, her hand coming up to rest just below the bandaged would. The medic had cut away part of Kakashi’s shirt and Naruto’s fingers were warm where they rested over the bare skin of his arm.

“You really do need to learn to move faster.”

 

“It’s barely more than a flesh wound, Naru,” Kakashi protested. “Not all of us have near unlimited chakra reserves.”

 

“I know that,” Naruto was looking at his arm and so Kakashi couldn’t fully see her expression but her lips had taken on an unhappy slant.

“I’m trying not to suddenly become nagging and overprotective just because we’re dating now but…but, I…”

 

“Naru,” Kakashi interrupted and cupped her jaw, tilting her face up to meet her gaze. “It’s okay. I get it.”

 

His heart was working overtime. Maybe it was that Naruto had acknowledged their relationship out loud for the first time. Maybe it was left over adrenaline from the fight. Or maybe it was because Kakashi really did understand, the mere thought of a kunai slicing through Naruto’s perfect skin was enough to make possessive rage cloud his gaze and he brushed his thumb across the skin near her mouth. The protectiveness was nothing new, it had always been there although not as intense as this so maybe it was just the change in their relationship talking. Then Naruto was turning her head, pressing a kiss to his thumb and Kakashi was intensely aware that anybody could stumble across them right now.

 

“My apartment?” Kakashi suggested and Naruto nodded before they both body-flickered into Kakashi’s living room.

 

The moment they arrived Kakashi pushed Naruto up against the wall, burying his face in the crook of her neck and breathing in her scent. Naruto hummed contentedly, her hands threading through his hair and she tilted her head to give him better access.

 

“This is gonna take a bit of getting used to, huh?” Naruto noted and Kakashi lifted his head to look at her.

 

“Some parts of it, I guess,” he admitted. “Maybe we should start practicing?”

 

“Maybe,” Naruto murmured and her eyes took on a speculative gleam as she brushed her lips against his clothed cheek.

“I know what I’d like to start with.”

 

“And what would that be, Naru?” Kakashi’s eyes darkened as he caught on to her meaning and Naruto’s smile widened.

 

She traced the edge of his mask with her fingers and, when Kakashi nodded his assent, pulled the material down. Naruto sucked her bottom lip into her mouth as she took in Kakashi’s face for the first time. Her fingers brushed over his cheekbone, down his jaw-line and across his lips and Kakashi had to use every ounce of his willpower to stay still and let Naruto set the pace.

 

“You’re gorgeous,” Naruto breathed and then she was pulling his head down towards hers and cutting off any reply Kakashi could have made with her lips.

 

The kiss started off chaste but quickly deepened as Naruto parted her lips and Kakashi pressed their bodies together, his hands large and possessive on her hips. Linking her arms behind Kakashi’s neck, Naruto stretched her body out against his, trying to get as much contact as possible. Kakashi tilted his head, his tongue chasing Naruto’s and his pants tightened a little when she moaned into the kiss, a desperate and hungry sound that he immediately wanted to hear more of.

 

They broke apart when the need for air grew too great and Kakashi immediately set to work on Naruto’s throat instead, mouthing at the veins there. Her head fell back, making her hair cascade down her back and a groan of encouragement escaped her lips. Naruto lifted her legs, wrapping them around Kakashi’s waist and Kakashi swore when the movement pressed their groins together. Then Naruto rolled her hips, a filthy smile of her face, and Kakashi swore again.

 

“Who the fuck taught you how to do this?” Kakashi demanded because the wanton minx that was testing his control was a far cry from the innocently seductive woman he’d always imagined Naruto would be.

“I’m not sure whether I want to thank him or punch him.”

 

“No-one,” Naruto’s laugh was husky and gritty with desire. “Nobody taught me anything but Jiraiya did get me to proof-read his books. They’re kind of explicit.”

 

Kakashi nipped at her ear lobe, relief mixed with something smug and possessive coursing through him. Naruto was untouched but far from innocent. He was going to have _so much_ fun with her. Capturing her lips with his once more, Kakashi ran his hands up her thighs and beneath the hem of her dress, cupping her ass as he fucked her tongue with his own. They carried on kissing for a little longer, neither making any move to get much farther than they already were and eventually, Kakashi stepped away from Naruto with obvious reluctance.

 

“Sensei is probably wondering where we got to,” Kakashi pointed out.

 

Naruto’s lips were red and swollen, her cheeks flushed and eyes glazed over so Kakashi glanced away only to be confronted by her heaving chest as she drew in much needed air. Turning pointedly in the other direction, Kakashi rubbed a hand over his face and pulled his mask back up in an effort to compose himself.

 

“You know that Papa won’t be mad, right?” Naruto eventually said, voicing something that just occurred to her.

“If we told him about us, I mean. You know he’ll approve.”

 

“You think so?” Kakashi asked. It had been troubling him for a while now, the idea of his sensei disapproving of their relationship.

 

“Yeah,” Naruto’s smile was soft. “I really do.”

 

Kakashi couldn’t help himself. He bent down to brush his lips over Naruto’s once more, thankful that the mask helped keep things under control.

 

“Come on,” Naruto grinned up at him and took his hand, lacing their fingers together. “Let’s go interrogate some Iwa nin.”


	10. The Ruler And The Killer, Baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This fic is actually quite fluffy and light-hearted overall. Very little angst here folks. All I really wanted to do was set up a universe that I've been itching to write. If there's interest, I might be persuaded into writing a sequel ;)

****

_A prisoner of war is someone who tries to kill you and fails, and then asks you not to kill him._

-          _Winston Churchill_

 

Azuma Shinji strained against his bindings and glared up at his captors. He was alone, separated from the rest of his team, and surrounded by Konoha ninja.

 

The mission had been a failure. When he had heard that the Namikaze brat was back in Konoha, rage that only thoughts of that cursed family could provoke had boiled inside Shinji. Namikaze Minato had slaughtered his uncle and father in one of the most underhanded and despicable ways. Yes, being a ninja was a high risk job but you usually had the opportunity to at least try to defend yourself against an attack.

 

Namikaze took that away, essentially depriving ninja of their rights. It was amoral and cowardly and Namikaze deserved to burn in hell for such using such underhanded tactics. The bastard didn’t even have the guts to oversee the interrogation himself. Instead, Shinji was surrounded by lackeys.  Little did he know that Minato _was_ there, watching from a side room along with Jiraiya, Kakashi, Naruto and Itachi.

 

“I am so glad the Yamanaka’s are on our side,” Naruto suppressed a shudder as she watched Inoichi breach the prisoner’s mind.

“Their jutsu are _creepy_.”

 

“But effective,” Jiraiya murmured, his attention focused on the interrogation. “Although if Iwa is planning a coup as well then we might have our hands full.”

 

“Fending off both Iwa and Suna?” Minato snorted. “Yeah that might be just a little bit problematic.”

 

“We’ll just sic Gaara on Suna,” Naruto waved a hand in dismissal of the threat they posed. “They’re all scared shitless of him anyway. And all you need to do, Papa, is breathe in Iwa’s direction and they’d scatter.”

 

“My daughter, the strategist,” Minato rolled his eyes but couldn’t help the fond smile that curved his lips when he caught Naruto’s unrepentantly cheeky grin.

 

“Come on, let’s leave Inoichi to do his job. We have a strategy meeting to get to.” Minato said after a moment and the rest of the group nodded their assent. It wasn’t long before they had reconvened in Minato’s office along with Hokage’s personal guard, current ANBU captains, Nara Shikaku and Tsunade.

 

“Baa-chan!” Naruto grinned, wide and cheeky, when she spotted the older woman. “Is that another wrinkle I’m seeing?”

 

“Watch your mouth, brat,” Tsunade scowled at Naruto but she couldn’t hold the expression for long and it soon faded into a smile.

“How’ve you been, Naru?”

 

“Great!” Naruto proclaimed. “I have so much to tell you!”

 

“Is that right?” Tsunade shot a sidelong glance at the girl who was like a daughter to her then lowered her voice, bending to whisper in Naruto’s ear. “Does any of it have to do with your new boyfriend?”

 

“News travels fast,” Naruto managed to keep her voice steady even as a light blush stained her cheeks. “It’s barely been more than a week…”

 

“Well I’m happy for you, brat,” Tsunade laughed. “You two are practically made for each other.”

 

“I’m glad you think so,” Naruto smiled and would have said more but Minato called the room to order.

 

“Okay,” Minato said as he settled into his seat and let his gaze sweep over the gathered ninja. “We all know why we’re here to let’s cut straight to the chase. Jiraiya, what information do you have?”

 

“The troubling kind,” Jiraiya replied, uncharacteristically solemn. “Orochimaru is in Konoha.”

 

A murmur spread through the room at this and Minato frowned, his lips thinning in a sign of his displeasure.

 

“You’re sure about this?” Minato asked.

 

“I’m afraid so,” Jiraiya nodded.

 

“How did that bastard get past security?” Tsunade asked and Jiraiya shrugged.

 

“The only way I can think of is that he’s in disguise, and a very good one,” Jiraiya replied. “Who exactly he’s impersonating is anybody’s guess.”

 

“We think we might have an idea,” Naruto said after exchanging a look with her father. “Gaara said that his father hasn’t really been himself the last few months. Add that to this attack they’re planning and we have a pretty good idea of whose face Orochimaru is wearing.”

 

“There’s one problem with that,” Shikaku spoke up. “While I don’t doubt that Orochimaru plans to wear the Kazekage’s face eventually, it’s no secret that he’s after the sharingan first and foremost.”

 

“You think he will attack Sasuke?” Kakashi’s brows furrowed as he caught on to what Shikaku was suggesting.

 

“If he plans to do so, the best time would be during the second stage of the exams,” Itachi spoke and, while his expression was neutral, there was a tightness in his jaw that hinted at the anger he was supressing.

 

“Itachi is right,” Shikaku agreed. “The contestants are at the most risk during the second stage of the exam. Orochimaru will make his move then.”

 

“Unfortunately for him, the no-interference rules are void when a legitimate threat is made against one of the contestants,” Minato replied and his smirk was echoed by the rest of the room.

“So let’s get a team together to keep a look out for our missing Sannin.”

 

“Hokage-sama,” Itachi immediately spoke up. “I gladly volunteer for this duty.”

 

“Of course,” Minato inclined his head in acknowledgement.

 

“Me too,” Naruto added and Minato nodded his agreement.

 

“Kakashi, you join them as well and there’ll also be an ANBU squad patrolling as back-up. Orochimaru is dangerous and I don’t want to take any chances.” Minato explained.

 

“Yes, sensei.” Kakashi gave a shallow bow of acknowledgment and met Naruto’s gaze, sharing a quick smile with his girlfriend before returning his attention to the meeting.

 

From there the talks progressed to strategies they could employ against Suna and possible ways to deal with the combined Suna/Iwa threat. Gaara turning to their side was a huge boost for Konoha and he would be a valuable ally for them no matter how everything played out. Sure, Orochimaru was still out there but you only had to glance at Itachi to see that the Snake Sannins days were numbered.

 

The threat from Akatsuki was slightly more worrying. The missing-nin that made up the organisation were no joke and would be difficult to defeat. Difficult, but not impossible. After all, the Hokage was one of the most powerful ninja to have ever lived and, with herself, Itachi, Jiraiya and Tsunade back in the village, Konoha’s forces had never been stronger. With Gaara already on their side, it wouldn’t be too difficult to turn the coupe that Suna had planned into an alliance instead.

 

Akatsuki were a threat to _all_ the hidden villages and an alliance between Suna and Konoha was sure to spark further treaties and would ensure aid the case of any one village being attacked. Naruto could envision exactly how the situation would end up being played and out and if, for any reason, it seemed like things wouldn’t work out, Naruto had her own network of allies to call upon. She hadn’t spent her exile twiddling her thumbs after all.

 

“You seem to be in a good mood,” Kakashi said as they left the Hokage tower once the meeting was over. Considering they’d just spent the past couple of hours discussing possible invasions, Naruto’s good humour was a little surprising.

 

“I suppose I am,” Naruto smiled up at her boyfriend as she linked their arms. “I just can’t help but feel positive. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not dismissing the threats we face. I just really feel like we’re equal to them, you know?”

 

“Well, at least one of us is feeling optimistic,” Kakashi smiled and pulled her a little closer to him so he could swing an arm over her shoulder.

 

“And we should keep that optimism fed,” Naruto suggested. “I’m starving, what are you in the mood for?”

 

“How about barbeque?” Kakashi suggested. “I can’t remember the last time I went to Akimichi’s.”

 

“Barbeque it is,” Naruto grinned and started to lean upwards to brush a kiss against Kakashi’s cheek.

 

They were interrupted before she could do so when someone shouldered their way between the two and Naruto found herself staring into eyes so dark they seemed to lack pupils.

 

“Eh! Tenzo!” Naruto gaped. “What are you doing?”

 

Her voice rose an octave or two with surprise and she had to supress the urge to punch him for interrupting so rudely.

 

“I’m hurt Naruto-chan,” Tenzo said. “Is that any way to greet a friend you haven’t seen in a decade?”

 

“It’s the way you greet an interloper,” Kakashi grumbled as he pushed Tenzo away to he could pull Naruto back towards him, annoyance clear in his visible eye.

 

“I saw you just the other month,” Naruto tilted her head to the side, confusion knitting her brows as both she and Tenzo ignored Kakashi’s grumbling. “You were on a mission. Don’t you remember?”

 

“Ne, that doesn’t count Naruto-chan,” Tenzo smiled and his eyes curved into half-moons with the motion. “We should catch up properly. Are you free right now?”

 

“No, she is not,” Kakashi frowned, his voice sharp enough to cause Tenzo to do a double take.

 

He took in the way Naruto and Kakashi were standing, arms wrapped around each other and so close wind wouldn’t even find a gap to blow through. Understanding dawned and a smirk curved his lips.

 

“So that’s how it is,” Tenzo murmured. “You should have said something senpai.”

 

Kakashi glowered but Naruto just laughed and snuggled even closer to her boyfriend.

“It’s kind of a new development,” she admitted. “Oh, and Tenzo?”

 

“Yes Naruto-chan?” Tenzo smiled but the expression quickly faded when a kunai flew past his face, nicking the skin slightly before embedding itself in the tree behind him.

 

“How many times have I told you not to call me chan?!”

 

Kakashi snickered as Tenzo stammered out an apology. Naruto held her stern expression for a little while before finally relaxing.

 

“We’ll see you around, Tenzo!” Naruto tossed a wave over her shoulder as she pulled Kakashi away, her stomach reminding her that they’d been on their way to get food.

 

“Possessive much, Kaka-kun?” Naruto teased once Tenzo was out of hearing range. She hadn’t missed the anger in his eyes when Tenzo had tried to monopolize the rest of her day.

 

“When it comes to you? Definitely.” Kakashi didn’t even try to deny it. He merely leaned down to press a kiss to the top of her head and squeezed her shoulder briefly.

 

Naruto blushed, touched by his openness and glad that this change in their relationship hadn’t affected the way they interacted.  She grinned at Kakashi, letting a comfortable silence fall as they made their way to the restaurant.

 

~O

 

Minato smiled as he watched Naruto and Kakashi walk away from the tower, arms around each other and Naruto’s grin brighter than the sun. He was glad they were having fun because his next task was going to be decidedly unpleasant.

 

“How long has that been going on?” Jiraiya asked, his gaze also following the tiny figures of Naruto and Kakashi through the window.

 

“As far as I know, only about a week or so,” Minato shrugged. “I’m not really surprised.”

 

“Nobody who knows those two is,” Tsunade snorted. “It’s about damned time. That sappy look Naruto used to get whenever she got a letter from Kakashi was so sweet it was sickening.”

 

“They’ll be good together,” Minato agreed. “But we have more urgent matters to attend to.”

 

All traces of humour fled from the Sannins expressions and they moved to stand on either side of Minato as he took his seat. It was time to meet with an Iwa nin to decide on an appropriate course of action. Punishing foreign ninja was a tricky business. On one hand, the punishment had to be mild enough not to draw the ire of the foreign ninja’s home village and incite war. On the other hand justice had to be done. In this particular instance, given the history between Konoha and Iwa, deciding on a punishment became even trickier. Fortunately, the group of Iwa ninja that had been involved in the attack had been stupid enough to carry out their plans in public and the jōnin in charge of Iwa’s chūnin exam delegation was already waiting for them.

 

“Hokage-sama,” the Iwa nin bowed low and respectful once he had been escorted into the office

. “My name is Sakata Higayoshi. On behalf of Iwa I extend my deepest apologies for the actions of our ninja.”

 

“I’m afraid it will take more than a spoken apology, however heartfelt, to properly address this attack,” Minato replied.

“All three of the Konoha ninja that were attacked a very much loved by this village. In the case of Naruto and Itachi, we have only just gotten them back after a very long absence. I’m sure you can appreciate that nobody has taken this attempt on their lives lightly.”

 

“I assure you that the group responsible were not representing the wishes of Iwa with their actions and we are as keen as you to see that justice is met swiftly and appropriately.”

 

Minato hummed thoughtfully as he considered those words. Whether or not it was true that the would be assassins were working under their own initiative rather than orders, official or otherwise, the emphasis on appropriate justice told Minato that Konoha would not be given free rein to dispense whatever punishment they would like. What a shame because Minato had no intention of letting them get away with that.

 

“Well that’s very reassuring,” Minato eventually said. “The penalty in Konoha for attempted murder is life imprisonment. Attempted murder of a member of the Hokage’s family warrants the death penalty.”

 

Sakata paled noticeably but his voice was steady when he replied.

“Then I’m afraid we might be at a bit of an impasse, Hokage-sama. The Tsuchikage will the see execution of Iwa ninja as a declaration of war.”

 

Minato was tempted to scoff and remind Iwa of what had happened the last time they had decided to go to war with Konoha. Thankfully the temptation lasted only a moment and the good sense and political acumen that helped make him such a great Hokage quickly took over.

 

“So what would you suggest, Sakata-san?” Minato asked, leaned back in his seat and touching the tips of his fingers together.

 

“We would like to care of this internally, within Iwa’s own laws, Hokage-sama,” Sakata said, struggling to keep his cool when voicing what he knew to be an outrageous demand. Still orders were orders.

 

“Out of the question,” Minato immediately rebuffed the idea, his eyes hardening into steely flints that made Sakata force back the urge to gulp.

"It's enough that you went after Konoha ninja, the fact that one of those ninja was my daughter means that there is absolutely no way the people involved are leaving Konoha until an appropriate punishment has been dealt.”

 

“And what would Hokage-sama consider to be appropriate punishment?” Sakata asked.

 

“Life imprisonment, here on Konoha, for those that led the attack. The rest of the group will be free to return to Iwa as long as you agree to irremovable chakra suppressing bracelets.”

 

“Hokage-sama!” Sakata protested, “Think of what you’re asking!”

 

“Oh I have,” Minato assured him. “I’ve thought very, very hard about this entire incident. Do you know what I find most curious, Sakata?”

The question was rhetorical and Minato carried on without giving the Iwa nin time to answer.

“I find it very strange indeed that the four of the six teams of genin that Iwa sent to take the chūnin exams were actually all jōnin level ninja. Don’t you find that strange?”

 

Sakata’s mouth opened, a slightly strangled sound escaped it and he promptly closed it again. His lips thinned as he pressed them together and tried to think of an appropriate response to the Hokage’s implied accusation. All the smooth talking in the world couldn’t help them now because they might be able to explain away one or two of the ninja as having not taken the exams before for various reasons but not all twelve. They were so busted.

 

“So I repeat,” Minato’s smile was blood-thirsty enough to cause even Jiraiya and Tsunade to suppress shivers, “life imprisonment and chakra suppressing bracelets. The ball is in your court Sakata-san.”

 

For a moment time seemed to freeze and then Sakata sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat and Minato’s smile sharpened as satisfaction curled warm and heavy in his gut. Sometimes, he really loved his job.

 

 

~O

 

 

Barbeque had been the wrong choice. Kakashi gritted his teeth, the action hidden behind his mask. What was supposed to be a nice, relaxing lunch with his girlfriend had turned into an impromptu gathering for what seemed like half of Konoha’s ninja. First they had met Asuma and Kurenai and their date had turned into a double date. That Kakashi could have lived with. Anko and Genma found invited themselves along soon after, then Kotetsu and Izumo had decided to join them and now Inuzuka Hana was pushing Itachi and Raidō into the already cramped booth.

 

Nine extra people was not relaxing. It was the furthest thing from relaxing and if it weren’t for the fact that beings so squashed meant that Kakashi had an excuse to put his arm around Naruto and sit so close to her that they were pressed together from shoulder to ankle, he probably would have made his displeasure known. As it were, he was a hairs breadth away from doing just that when Naruto’s hand slipped over his thigh and squeezed, effectively halting any protests he may have made. Kakashi glanced at her but Naruto was talking to Asuma and paying him not attention. Then her hand slid upwards a little and Kakashi had to swallow.

 

“You sure do move fast, Hatake,” Anko was saying and Kakashi forced himself to focus.

 

“Why wait around when you know what you want?” It was Hana who answered. “Besides, you and Naruto have been close since you were kids, right Kakashi?”

 

“You could say that,” Kakashi conceded, unwilling to talk much about their relationship. It was nobody else’s business but their own.

 

“It’s great that you didn’t wait around,” Hana sighed. “How long have you two been dating?”

 

“Can’t have been that long,” Anko postulated. “Naruto’s only been back a few months and Hatake has been busy with his team.”

 

“Is Team 7 taking the chūnin exams?” Kurenai asked and relief flooded through Kakashi at the change of topic as he nodded his confirmation.

“I’m not sure whether or not to enter Team 8. This year looks like it could get violent and I’m not sure if they’re ready.”

 

“If it’s the Iwa delegation you’re worried about, I doubt they’ll be allowed to compete,” Genma said. “Hokage-sama will see to it that justice is done.”

 

Naruto had to duck her head to hide a smile at that. It was always heart-warming to see that the faith she had in her father was also felt by the rest of Konoha.

 

“What about you, Asuma-san?” Naruto asked. “Will your team be entering?”

 

“I think they’re ready,” Asuma nodded. “Their teamwork is excellent and I trust Shikamaru to keep them away from situations that are too dangerous.”

 

“Ah, the famed Nara intellect,” Naruto laughed. “From all accounts it seems like Shikamaru truly is his father’s son.”

 

“That he is,” Asuma chuckled. “The exams are going to be interesting this year.”

 

Naruto’s mind immediately went to the possible threats Konoha was facing – Orochimaru, Akatsuki and now war with Suna and possibly Iwa as well. Interesting was one way of putting it. The chūnin exams started in two days and then all bets were off. Orochimaru was a dead man walking, Suna had no hope of overrunning Konoha without Gaara on their side and her dad had already proven to Iwa that Konoha was not a village to be taken lightly.

 

Akatsuki still needed to be dealt with but right then surrounded by friends and snuggled up to Kakashi, Naruto felt like she was well and truly back home and nobody, not even Akatsuki, would take her from her family ever again.


End file.
